Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick, was on the practice field almost an hour before the start of his first workout with his new team. The quarterback wanted to send a message on a “huge day.”
“I wanted to set a tone,” Young said, via Steve Reed of the Associated Press. “I was just here trying to get stuff down like we all were. In this rookie minicamp, we have talked about the themes of the team, and one of them is making sure we are prepared. I think we all want to make the best first impression that we can.”
Young made a good first impression on coach Frank Reich, who said the former Alabama star “looked the part” of a franchise quarterback.
The Panthers invested a lot to get Young, trading four draft picks and receiver D.J. Moore to move up to the top spot. Adam Thielen, Terrace Marshall, DJ Chark, Laviska Shenault Jr. and rookie Jonathan Mingo now are among the team’s top options at receiver.
Young made an instant connection with Mingo, the team’s second-round pick from Ole Miss, on Friday.
Young, though, knows this is only the beginning.
He still has a lot to learn before the season opener, saying he wants to do “everything I can to set myself up to be successful and to help the franchise.”
“There’s still obviously a lot more about the playbook I want to learn,” Young said. “I want to get to the point to where I have it mastered. . . . I’m going to stay in my playbook and keep trying to get better, day in and day out. But [I] also understand it’s day one of rookie minicamp. It’s a day-by-day process; we talk about it a lot as a team. Today was a good day.”