Adam Thielen on Bryce Young: I think everything was stacked against him last year
It's no secret that Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had a rough rookie year after Carolina traded up to select him at No. 1 overall.
On Wednesday, one of Young's teammates noted just how much Young had to overcome in 2023.
"Yeah, well, I'll say this: I mean, I think everything was stacked against him last year, unfortunately," Thielen said in a Wednesday interview on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. "And I'm not gonna get into detail as to why that was, but I'm just really excited for him to have a fresh start, an ability to have a good coaching staff that's gonna put a good plan together to help him be successful, and also to put people around him to help him be successful.”
The Panthers lost each of their first six games before finally defeating Houston in Week 8. The club did not win again until Week 15, defeating Atlanta on a rainy day in Charlotte. Frank Reich was fired after the team's Nov. 26 loss to Tennessee. Carolina reached 20 points just one time after its Week 7 bye — in a Dec. 24 33-30 loss to the Packers.
The team did not score another point during the season, with shutout losses to the Jaguars and Bucs to end the year.
Thielen added he felt Young displayed “his maturity over the year."
"I think his ability at times to just be very honest in front of the room and say, 'Hey, this is what I'm not doing very well and this is what I need to get better at and please hold me accountable,' I thought was really impressive for a young guy," Thielen said.
“His maturity level over the season was really cool to see. And his ability to handle adversity. I don't know how much adversity Bryce has had over his football career, and to handle the amount of adversity he did, to show up every week, week in, week out, put his head down and work, try to lead to the best of his ability was really impressive, and what makes me excited about Year 2 with him.”
Young ended his first season having completed 60 percent of his passes for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Thielen was clearly his favorite target, as he caught 103 passes for 1,014 yards with four touchdowns.
