After two full days of practice, former Alabama All-American quarterback Bryce Young appears headed back to the Carolina Panthers’ lineup for Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers.
The Panthers’ alternatives are sticking with backup Andy Dalton for another game after he sustained a broken thumb on his throwing hand in a 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday or turning to Oct. 21 signee Mike White.
Young sustained an ankle injury in the third quarter of Carolina’s 13-6 victory over the New York Jets on Oct. 19, left the game and did not practice last week.
“Feel good,” Young said after practice on Thursday. “Again, obviously I’m going to default to the doctors. I’m a competitor. I want to go out there and be with my brothers, so I’m doing everything I can. Just want to go out there and compete. And then, you know, at the end of the day, the doctors will make the decision. …
“I take it day-to-day, and today was a good day. I felt good today. I continue to feel better and better. So, again, I’m listening to the doctors. I’m going to do whatever it takes to play. I want to play, of course, but I don’t have a medical degree, so I’m going to default to them.”
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Dalton said he broke his thumb on the second possession against Buffalo. Dalton stayed in the game, but he did not practice on Wednesday before participating on a limited basis on Thursday.
“I mean, it’s not ideal, but I can still work,” Dalton said. “I can still throw the ball, and so, yeah, just go from there. I didn’t know what exactly had happened at the time and until afterwards when we got images of it and everything. But, I mean, it’s one of those things, and everybody’s going through something, everybody’s dealing with something, so it’s just one of those things you feel like if you can still go, you got to play.”
The loss to Buffalo came in the Panthers’ first game with a winning record since Oct. 17, 2021, and dropped Carolina to 4-4 by ending a three-game winning streak.
“Truth is we’re 0-and-0 this week,” Young said. “The big picture stuff is stuff that’s really out of our control. Just from a personal philosophy, I’m not a big-picture thinker. I’m not a long-term goal-setter. I try to focus on what I can control as a team. Coach talks about all the time: Let’s work to go 1-and-0. And right now, we’re 0-and-0. That’s really all that matters. There’s so much movement throughout the year. There’s so much other stuff you have to account for. If we put our focus in that, it’s not going all to the Packers like it needs to be.”
With the best record in the NFC at 5-1-1, the Packers square off against the Panthers at noon CST Sunday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
The game will be Young’s first on “The Frozen Tundra,” although the forecast calls for a kickoff temperature of 42 degrees with a 33 percent chance of rain showers.
“I’ve heard a ton of great things about it,” Young said of the venue. “I am excited. Everyone, you know, coaches and players have all been there and said it’s a really special environment. So, again, I’m grateful that I get to play in the NFL, I get to play in these stadiums.”
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