Overreaction? Bryce Young Inspires Concern After Abysmal Joint Practice vs. Texans

No one wants their quarterback to have an awful practice session, least of all a team trying to discern whether or not their quarterback is worth a long-term, lucrative extension. That's where the Carolina Panthers are with Bryce Young.

And unfortunately, he picked a bad day to have a bad day. He was, according to those keeping count, 9/17 with two interceptions. There are conflicting reports on the second interception, with some pointing out that it hit off of Jalen Coker and was intercepted on the dive and others saying he was pressured into an errant throw.

Young also took at least four but potentially seven sacks on the day against this vaunted Texans front. Social media is ablaze with takes, most of them negative. Some are even saying it's good the Panthers plan to keep both Kenny Pickett and Haynes King for when Young gets benched again.

All of it is nonsense, and it's based on a practice session. So allow us to provide some optimism, or at least something that's not pure pessimism about Young. People are certainly overreacting.

Bryce Young's awful practice session isn't cause for seismic shifts

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) looks to throw the ball during | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Let's be blunt: Bryce Young was dreadful against the Houston Texans. 9/17 in a practice session is bad. Two interceptions in a practice session is bad, too, especially when it's not against your own defense. If you throw picks to your own defenders, then at least there's the positive spin of good performance on the other side.

Seven sacks, which aren't his fault, is also an awful number. The Panthers, as a whole, were obviously swallowed up by the Texans. That is bad, but it's not cause for immediate concern over the quarterback. Obviously, no one on offense had it on Wednesday.

It's unfortunate, but it happens. Luckily, it happened in a meaningless joint practice session. That kind of day can only be improved upon, and it was a learning moment for everyone involved, including Young.

The other reason all the pessimism is pure overreaction is that this is the Texans' defense we're talking about. They are the best unit in football, and they have arguably the best pass rush in football.

Combine that with a newly-formed offensive line with a rookie taking snaps, and you begin to understand why everything was so awful. That doesn't necessarily inspire confidence for the season, but it provides valuable context for what we saw yesterday.

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

We'd all prefer Young to light it up, but that doesn't happen every day. By and large, he's been great this summer, and he has had very few bad days. He just happened to have one in a key session that will be his final outing against an opponent until Week 1.

It certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but let's hold off on writing the obituary on his Panthers career for a little while longer.

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