Bryce Young had a hard time returning to the starting lineup. There were some valid excuses that could have been made, although most would not say them publicly. But on the question of the lack of healthy Carolina Panthers Pass catcher Young refused to blame his situation.

Both Adam Thielen and Diontae Johnson were not on the field Sunday. Jonathan Brooks, who had his 21-day window open two weeks ago, was also out. Despite that and a matchup with the fourth-ranked defense featuring two of the top cornerbacks in the NFL, Bryce Young refused to accept an excuse for why the team lost.

“It wasn’t even to prove (myself). I just wanted to go out there and execute and wanted to help win football. … I can get better at it. It’s the NFL. The guys that played today are great guys, great players, guys that I trust. There was never a time when I looked out and thought… again, I have the utmost confidence in those guys.

– Bryce Young

Young made no excuses for the loss, which is the mindset he’s had since coming to the NFL. It has always been on his shoulders despite the amount of problems he has faced that are beyond his control. On Sunday, he showed that mentality again in a loss.

And while it’s easy to say such things, Sunday’s performance certainly looked like Young believes it. He threw a jump ball to undrafted rookie Jalen Coker, who couldn’t stop the defender from pulling it out of his hand for an interception. He went back to him just minutes later on a back-shoulder throw for a touchdown. He lobbed the ball up to Xavier Legette in traffic and continued to look for him after a brutal drop on a wide-open pass even before halftime.

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