Panthers’ Bryce Young leaves win over Jets with ankle injury, status uncertain for next week

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Bryce Young did everything he could to try to avoid a sack. The Carolina Panthers hope their quarterback doesn’t miss any time because of it.

Young left late in the third quarter of the Panthers’ 13-6 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday with an ankle injury that had him limping to the locker room to get checked out.

“We’re evaluating him for the right ankle,” coach Dave Canales said. “So, we’re taking all the information and we’ll look at him when we get home some more and see where we’re at.”

Young was attempting to scramble away when he was sacked by Jowon Briggs for a 12-yard loss on his last snap before the Panthers punted.

“He was trying to get out of trouble there,” Canales said of Young. “And he got caught up a little bit.”

The Panthers announced Young’s return was questionable before saying he was out for the game. Canales said he didn’t have any specifics on the injury, but acknowledged Young had some trouble putting weight on his right foot.

“Yes,” the coach said, “otherwise he would’ve been back in.”

Andy Dalton took over with 34 seconds left in the third quarter when Carolina got the ball back leading 13-3 following an interception by Jaycee Horn in the end zone.

Young was 15 of 25 for 138 yards and a touchdown when he left the game as the Panthers won three straight for the first time with him as their starting quarterback.

Carolina improved to 4-3 with the victory, moving the Panthers above .500 for the first time this late in a season since they started 5-3 in 2019. It was also Carolina’s first road win this season after dropping its first three.

If Young is forced to miss any time, the Panthers will have to try for a four-game winning streak with Dalton under center. And it’ll be a tough task: Carolina hosts the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.

“If Bryce can’t play, then we have great trust in Andy,” running back Rico Dowdle said. “The guy comes to practice every day and he’s been in the league a long time, so we definitely have great trust in him.”

The 37-year-old Dalton, in his 15th NFL season and third with the Panthers, was 4 of 7 for 60 yards in place of Young. With Carolina nursing a one-score lead late in the game, Dalton helped ice the win by connecting with Xavier Legette for 33 yards on third-and-8 with 1:20 left. Dalton then was able to kneel down twice to end the game.

“I don’t know if it changes much,” Dalton said of the Panthers’ offense if he were to start. “Bryce has been doing a lot of really good things with his feet, even the touchdown he threw, just the scrambling and moving around, all that kind of stuff.

“But for us, especially when I got in there for this game, we were trying to milk the clock as much as we could and try to get out with a win.”

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