Bryce Young to Play in Panthers' Preseason Opener vs. Jets, HC Frank Reich Says

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich confirmed rookie quarterback Bryce Young will see the field in the team's preseason debut against the New York Jets on Saturday.

It's unclear how much Young will play. The Athletic's Joseph Person reported in July that Matt Corral "figures to get the bulk of the snaps in the preseason games" since he has more to prove to the Panthers or any interested trade suitors.

Reich has already taken the step of naming Young his starting quarterback.

"I think we've made good progress," he said in July. "I think Bryce has made good progress. You can just tell he — and the whole group, the whole group on offense, just speaking about how we've progressed — you can just tell everybody is feeling more comfortable, certainly Bryce is as well. I feel good about where he's at."

Because of that, Young's availability in the preseason could be limited.

Coaches typically want to minimize the injury risk to their starters as much as possible. But Reich will balance that against the need for Young to get some meaningful snaps before Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.

Whatever the No. 1 overall pick does under center is bound to help set expectations for him in the year ahead. Whether his preseason performance is instructive of anything is another matter.

Kenny Pickett went 29-of-36 for 261 yards and three touchdowns during the 2022 preseason. While those numbers underscored how he was the best QB on the Pittsburgh Steelers' roster, they didn't align with what he ultimately did in the regular season.

The opposite dynamic unfolded for Justin Herbert, who didn't even have the luxury of a preseason in 2020 before enjoying one of the most prolific rookie campaigns ever.

Young's efforts against the Jets might at least go some way toward determining how much Reich plans on throwing him out there for Carolina's final two preseason contests.