The Carolina Panthers‘ best defender has come to the defense of his quarterback.
Defensive lineman Derrick Brown joined the latest episode of Green Light with Chris Long. And when talking about teammate Bryce Young, the Pro Bowler called out the fourth-year passer’s critics—who he believes may be timid to admit their misses.
“He’s our guy, and we ride with 9 all the way through,” Brown stated. “People don’t wanna admit how good he’s becoming, because they have to go back and admit how wrong they were. As we all know, people don’t like doing that.”
Those people might’ve thought they were right two games into the 2024 campaign, when Young was abruptly benched by first-year head coach Dave Canales. But Young didn’t fold, as he reentered the starting lineup in Week 8 of that season and never looked back.
Since then, Young has thrown for 5,115 yards, 38 touchdowns and 17 interceptions over 26 starts. He also helped guide the Panthers to their first playoff appearance since 2017 and their first NFC South title since 2015 this past year.
Brown went on to credit Young for his perseverance through that tough time.
“He took the benching and, man, he just came in to work every single day, and killed it,” he added. “He didn’t care. He went right back to doing what he does and to him, it was about playing football.”
With the prospect of a long-term extension looming, 2026 could prove to be Young’s most important season yet. He’ll be under contract in Carolina through 2027, the fifth and final year of his rookie deal.
So while it seems that he’s done enough to win over Brown and the rest of the locker room, Young might still have something to prove to the rest of the organization.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers DL Derrick Brown calls out critics of QB Bryce Young