CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It took exactly one game for Dave Canales to begin fielding some of the well-worn questions his predecessors faced, though never quite this early into their tenures as the Carolina Panthers’ head coach.
That’s what a 37-point loss to a so-so New Orleans Saints team in your coaching debut will do. This wasn’t a firing-squad type of interrogation Wednesday at Bank of America Stadium. Still, it’s likely not what the rookie head coach had in mind a week into his maiden season.
In the wake of Sunday’s 47-10 drubbing in New Orleans, the 43-year-old Canales was asked whether he’d met with owner David Tepper since the loss and what his philosophy is in terms of giving quarterbacks a chance to learn by sitting and watching.
Canales, hired in part because of his success turning around quarterbacks in Tampa Bay and Seattle, made it clear Bryce Young will remain the starter.
“The best experience you can have is to be on the field, and to just live it,” Canales said. “He’s got 16 games from last year. He’s got another one under his belt. So we just keep building on experiences to lean on, lessons to learn, all those things. There’s no way to replace that.”
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Young threw an interception on the first offensive snap of the season, was picked off again in the second half and finished with the worst passer rating (32.8) and second-worst completion percentage (43.3) of his career. Last year’s No. 1 pick was sacked four times, with three coming on blitzes by nickel cornerback Alontae Taylor, who the Panthers made look like Lawrence Taylor.
More on Young in a bit.
But it was interesting to hear Canales’ response about his conversation with Tepper, whose meetings with Frank Reich last year ended abruptly when Tepper fired him 11 games into a four-year contract. Canales said he’d spoken with Tepper since the opener and also mentioned his wife Nicole, the team’s chief administrative officer.
“These are people I want to make proud of what we’re doing here and what we’re building. It means a lot to me to make sure that I can connect with him, that I connect with Nicole,” Canales said.
“To be able to talk about just the state of our organization, just following up on games. I look forward to that process. So we had some good time to connect after the game. Those are private conversations that I’ll keep to myself, but a lot of support.”
Canales then looked directly into the camera and added: “Happy birthday, by the way, David. Hope you’re having a great time with the family.”
Tepper, who turned 67 on Wednesday, is a hands-on owner who hasn’t tasted a winning season since buying the team from Jerry Richardson in 2018. The Panthers are tied with the Jets for the NFL’s worst record over that span, during which Tepper has cycled through four head coaches (seven counting interim coaches) and three general managers.
Which is to say, Canales might have been smart to rent in Charlotte.
But given that Tepper gave Canales a six-year contract — along with the no-expectations narrative Canales and GM Dan Morgan have been repeating, there’s some sense that Tepper may be more willing to stomach a rebuild this time around. Young’s development is at the center of that retooling process, which is the biggest reason why the loss Sunday was so disheartening.
Both local and national media by and large gave Young a pass on his rough rookie season, shrugging off his NFL-worst passer rating and second-worst completion percentage to a lack of surrounding playmakers and protection, not to mention a disjointed offensive scheme.
But after the Panthers spent big on a pair of free-agent guards and tried to upgrade the skill positions through the draft and a trade for Diontae Johnson, it gets harder to excuse performances like Young’s 13-for-30 passing line against the Saints.
Perhaps the most troubling thing about Sunday was the failure to recognize the blitz, either by Canales or Young or both. Canales blamed himself for three of the sacks, while saying Young should have done a better job seeing and reacting on the other one.
SEND THE HOUSE. ALONTAE WITH ANOTHER ONE
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Young’s processing skills, evidenced by his near-perfect score on the S2 test, were what helped convince Tepper, Reich and others to take Young over C.J. Stroud, last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. But with Taylor time and again running unblocked and taking Young down in the pocket, was it a matter of Canales not giving Young the freedom to make pre-snap checks?
“There’s things built in for Bryce to get us to the right play, to do things. He’s done a fantastic job with that,” Canales said. “I think those things take time. It takes games to just have those experiences, to identify the things you can attack. It’s something we certainly can continue to build.”
Young said he appreciates having Canales in the quarterbacks room during the week and believes the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator gives him flexibility within the scheme.
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“They want to win games, want to be efficient and offensively want to execute. And they don’t care how it gets done,” Young said. “They give me the freedom to do as I see fit. With that respect, it’s not just going rogue and doing whatever. It’s having conversations throughout the week and, ‘Hey, I saw this.’ Communicating then (them) doing the same for me.”
Wide receiver Adam Thielen said it takes time for a quarterback to feel confident enough in a new offense to make changes at the line of scrimmage. And he said playing more than a series in the preseason wouldn’t have helped Young in that regard because defenses wouldn’t be showing any exotic blitzes.
“I think you saw it a couple times in the game that he did make some adjustments and I just think it takes game reps,” Thielen said. “You can do it in practice all you want. But until you get those real live bullets, game reps, I just don’t think you have a comfort to make too many adjustments.”
But time is not necessarily on the side of Canales and Young, if Tepper’s history is any guide. If the coach and quarterback don’t start clicking, the questions will only get harder from here.
(Photo of Young: Perry Knotts / Getty Images)
