Bryce Young Made a 'Great First Impression' at Rookie Minicamp

Things are off to a strong start for the number one overall pick.

Several fans showed up to the first day of Panthers' rookie minicamp in hopes of getting a picture or an autograph from the top pick in the draft, Bryce Young.

Unfortunately, they showed up a little too late. Young was already at the practice field an hour before the day was scheduled to get underway. It may have been a disappointing moment for the fans but it shows the level of dedication and passion that their new quarterback has for the game.

Head coach Frank Reich wasn't at all surprised by Young's early start to the day, mentioning to reporters that it's just who he is.

"We love guys who love the process, who love the grind, who love the game, who love everything about it. Bryce has demonstrated that his whole life," Reich said. "Everywhere you go when you check how he's been, he's been the same way. This isn't anything new to him. He's just doing what he's done his whole life and that's to get prepared so he can be counted on play in and play out and play in the big moments. And part of that leadership is doing all the things right. He's going to do whatever it takes. You have that sense that he's going to do whatever it takes."

Young understands that nothing is going to be handed to him. It's going to be earned. That's something that Reich talked about at the conclusion of last month's draft and clearly Young understands the message.

"Yeah, this is a huge day for me. This is my first day of practice, so of course, I wanted to set the tone," Young said Friday. "I was just here just trying to get stuff down like we all were. We've talked about it a lot as a team. Being prepared. In this rookie minicamp making sure we talk about the themes of the team and one of them is making sure that we're prepared. I think we all here want to make the best first impression we can. There's so much that I'm excited for and want to improve on. I just want to do everything I can to have a good first day and hopefully keep stacking them."

That first impression is Reich-approved.

"Bryce made a great impression. Obviously, mentally and physically, looked the part in every way. Threw the ball exceedingly well. You could tell he was in a good space mentally. Really had a firm grasp on everything we asked.

"I think he's going to progress quickly in anything he does. I think we all kind of know that's the person he is. That's the kind of player he is. That's how fast his mind thinks and how gifted he is physically. You can just see him throwing the football out there how easy it is for him. A couple of us coaches were talking and we like to talk about low-RPM mode where it's just easy for him, you can see that. But it'll pick up on Monday. Getting the vets out there. There will be challenges. There will be bumps and ups and downs but excited to get to work."

Young will begin this week of practice repping with the twos while Andy Dalton gets to run with the ones. However, Reich did state that Young will probably end up getting more reps considering he's the new guy.

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