The Carolina Panthers, no matter how battered and bruised they may be at the moment, are looking to finish the 2024 campaign with their best effort.
Head coach Dave Canales spoke with reporters on Monday afternoon, less than 24 hours after yesterday’s 48-14 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was asked if he plans on starting quarterback Bryce Young in the season finale against the Atlanta Falcons this weekend.
“Absolutely,” Canales replied. “Our mentality as a team is to finish strong. We have one more opportunity to get back to our football, to play balanced football, complementary football. And the pursuit of that continues this week against the Falcons.”
Young, according to NFL’s Next Gen Stats from the Week 17 defeat, faced the most pressure of any quarterback in a single game this season. But despite that, and the five sacks, the second-year passer turned in yet another encouraging performance—throwing for 203 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Outside of Young, the Panthers are also rostering 14th-year veteran Andy Dalton and undrafted rookie Jack Plummer at the quarterback position. Plummer was officially signed to the active roster on Saturday.
Canales was then asked if he also expects to field his other starters.
“Yup,” he stated. “The focus is for all of us, the guys that are available, we’re playing. This game, these opportunities are so important as we learn about who we are as a team, as we’re continuing to progress and develop our systems and our concepts. So we’re taking this as any opportunity to finish.”
They’ll finish beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET in Atlanta on Sunday.