No Need to Panic Over Dreadful Bryce Young, Monroe Freeling Practices

The Carolina Panthers put one of the worst (but not the worst, thanks to the Washington Commanders) joint practice sessions out there on Wednesday against the Houston Texans.

While Carolina's defense was solid against Houston's offense, the Texans' defense absolutely smothered the Panthers' offense. There is no sugarcoating it. It was ugly, and Dave Canales immediately said in his presser that they were vastly outplayed.

There have been tons of reactions, most notably negative, surrounding Monroe Freeling and Bryce Young. They both struggled badly on Wednesday. There's still no need to panic.

Pump the brakes on writing the obituary for Monroe Freeling and Bryce Young

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) during the third quarter | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bryce Young and Monroe Freeling were at the heart of an abysmal practice against the Houston Texans. Two supposed cornerstones looked bad, and it has the fan base up in arms. There's no need to overreact, though.

Please also realize that in an actual game vs an elite D like the Texans you would scout and devise a gameplan to help your rookie RT and take advantage of pressure looks... none of that happens in a joint practice. Instead, you are running the plays you really like and measuring…
— DMC (@dmcland72) August 27, 2026

One Panthers fan online pointed out the important thing. What it essentially boils down to is that in practice settings like this, it's sink or swim. Freeling doesn't have to worry about competing for a job, so he can afford to learn through baptism by fire.

The Panthers threw him out there against arguably the best pass rush in the NFL, and he got picked on. That shouldn't be surprising since he was known coming out of college as a raw prospect who'd need time.

The Panthers don't have that time, but in a game situation, they'd have a plan set up for managing his workload. There would be more tight end help, bootlegs to the other side, a guard double team to keep him off an island against Will Anderson or Danielle Hunter.

It looks ugly, and it spreads to the rest of the offense. Young was dreadful, but it's hard to be successful with pressure on every single play. And one of the interceptions he threw was more the result of poor protection leading to an errant throw than a flat-out miss by Young.

And like Young said, it's an opportunity to learn. For Freeling and the coaching staff, it's a chance to learn how he can hold up against the elite pass rushers. For now, he can't hold up, and so when they face Jared Verse, Aidan Hutchinson, Nik Bonitto, Trey Hendrickson, and others, they will have a plan.

Practice is all about learning what you can and can't do. It's why training camp stats are a useless endeavor, even in joint sessions. These literally don't matter, and they're about testing limits and seeing what is and isn't working.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) warms up before a preseason game | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Panthers learned that leaving Freeling on his own against an elite rusher is not going to fly in his rookie season. Sure, that's disappointing for the future franchise blocker and a first-round pick, but that's what practice is for.

You can bet that when Freeling comes up against an elite edge rusher in the regular season, he won't be alone, and he'll fare better. And if he fares better, then the rest of the offense can run a little smoother.

No one wants to see seven "sacks" and two interceptions along with bad tape from their prized rookie, but the mass panic is an overreaction. We're talking about practice, man.

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