NFC Notes: Bryce Young, Panthers, Saints

Bryce Young

When asked whether the Panther selected the right quarterback between Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud at No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL Draft, HC Frank Reich responded they “couldn’t be happier” with their choice in Young and feels you can’t label players within the first year of their career. 

“We got the guy we wanted to get and couldn’t be happier about that — in every way. I’m happy for C.J. He’s had six good games and I have no doubt he’ll have many more good games. But I know this when it comes to evaluating quarterbacks or any position, it’s years not weeks,” Reich said, via Joseph Person of The Athletic. “You can’t put a label on a guy after six weeks or even a year. I’ve seen guys have Pro Bowl seasons and then a year later fighting to be a backup somewhere else. It’s a crazy league. What we’re looking for not just from our quarterback but at every position is sustained success at a high level for a very long time. And you can’t measure it in weeks.”

Reich reiterated he always sold on Young throughout the pre-draft process. 

“My eyes and our eyes were on Bryce Young from start to finish,” Reich said. “You look at the film. You talk to the man. You get a sense for the leader, the player and what he is and what he can be and how he fits to what we want to do … we got the guy for us. And I’m sure Houston feels they got the guy for them. That’s great. I think it’s great for the NFL. It’s great for our two guys. I think we’re both very happy with where we’re at and the direction we’re going.”

Panthers

Panthers DC Ejiro Evero was asked about who will step into place for the injured OLB Yetur Gross-Matos.

“We’re always evaulatin’ the personnel each week,” he said, via Panthers Wire. “We’re always trying to find the best combinations of guys to get out there and play. Obviously, with Yetur, big hit. But again, opportunity for other people and we’ll see who steps up.”

Evero declined to say who will step up in Gross-Matos absence.

“We’ll keep that to ourselves for now,” he replied. “All the outside backers.”

Saints

Saints HC Dennis Allen feels the extra days following their Week 7 Thursday Night loss to the Jaguars gave their players a chance to rest and reset. 

“It came at a good time for us,” Allen said, via John Deshazier of the team’s site. “Gave the players an opportunity to kind of reset a little bit, and us as a coaching staff as well. I think we all utilized this time to reflect on what we’ve done over the first seven games and where are some areas that we need to improve, and so we’re hard at work now on getting those areas improved.”

Allen said their offense must improve in “situational football” after stalling out in the red zone and third downs. 

“When you have a few extra days, it gives you a little bit more opportunity to kind of dive into some of the things,” Allen said. “I will say from an offensive perspective, situational football I think is one thing that has to be better. The last couple of weeks I feel like we’ve moved the ball at times, and yet, we stall out in the red zone or we’re unable to convert third downs. That’s something we’ve taken a look at and figuring out some things we can do better in those areas.”

Saints C Erik McCoy said they used the extra time to regroup and come back with a “new sense of urgency.”

“Kind of regroup,” McCoy said. “I think a lot of people got out of town, just time away so we could come in this week with a new sense of focus, a new sense of urgency, a new sense of juice, so to call it. Have that carry over from practice into the game.”