‘It boils over’: Panthers’ veteran playmakers frustrated over lackluster start to season

The Panthers had just failed again on third down.

Quarterback Bryce Young took a nasty looking sack from Los Angeles Chargers pass rusher Joey Bosa. And hope, like the play clock, was running out in the third quarter.

As the offense returned to the sideline in frustration, veteran wideout Adam Thielen, who hadn’t caught a pass to that point, began pacing. While spectators watched as Thielen went on an inaudible tirade, the wideout could feel his disappoint and anger boil over in the countdown to a 26-3 blowout loss at Bank of America Stadium.

“I think when you step in between those lines, you have to be a different type of player,” Thielen said. “You have to play with emotion. If you don’t, you’re not gonna have success. At some point, it boils over. You try to be a leader. You try to be mature in how you handle yourself. But at some point it boils over. When you put so much into this game, into game planning, into how you practice, how you fight through some stuff, you want to see progression. You want to see us moving forward as a team. And so it’s boiled over frustration.

“I’m not making any excuses. I shouldn’t do that. But at the same time, when I step in those lines, I kind of turn into a different person because I’ve learned in my career you have to be. You have to have that emotion. You have to have that dawg mentality, or otherwise you’ll get eaten alive. And so I let it boil over, which maturity wise I shouldn’t do that.”

Thielen’s outburst came late in the third quarter. He would eventually catch two passes for 20 yards in the fourth quarter.

While that total might not seem all that noteworthy, it nearly counted for a quarter of Young’s passing yards against the Chargers. Young completed 18 of 26 yards for just 84 yards and an interception.

Young’s longest completion went for 12 yards.

Thielen wasn’t the only person who had an outburst in the lopsided loss. Carolina fans shouted their disapproval of the on-field product as well.

“Obviously, it doesn’t feel good,” running back Chuba Hubbard said about the boos from the home crowd. “We’ve got to change some things here; it’s not going to happen overnight. I know a lot of people are disappointed, a lot of people want to see results now, but we are in it for the long haul. Just going to keep chopping at the tree, and sooner or later it’s going to fall so you just have to have faith.”

No. 1 wideout Diontae Johnson built chemistry with Young throughout the summer. So far, that chemistry has yielded just five catches for 34 scoreless yards.

Young has yet to throw a touchdown pass this season, but he has three interceptions. He’s also taken six sacks for losses of 41 yards.

Johnson, who dealt with his fair share of QB struggles in Pittsburgh during his first five seasons with the Steelers, knows the passing game needs to improve.

“We just have to go out there and execute better,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we just have to go out there, come off the ball fast, execute and make plays down the field and get the run game going.

“It sucks that we don’t start off how we want to start and that we are playing catch-up. It’s tough when you’re down by two touchdowns and trying to get a little rhythm going, but like I said we just have to start out fast.”

Following the loss to the Chargers, head coach Dave Canales was asked about the future of the QB position, with Young struggling mightily in the first two games of the campaign. Canales threw his support behind last year’s No. 1 overall pick.

Thielen, who lost his cool in front of Young, made sure that the second-year QB knew that his frustration wasn’t solely with him.

“I went over and I apologized to him because it wasn’t, again, directed at anyone, but when you do that, it feels probably like it’s directed at someone,” Thielen said. “I don’t know how he felt about it, but again, take accountability. I apologized.”

Johnson, who was acquired in March, is also trying to keep Young’s spirits up.

“Just try to uplift him,” Johnson said. “Get a spark going. Try to get the offense going or whatever the case may be, but my job is to get open and make plays down the field.”

Hubbard, who picked up 64 rushing yards on 10 carries, was one of the few bright spots for the offense on Sunday.

Having played through the struggles of last year’s 2-15 campaign, Hubbard has perspective on what it takes to endure a tough season. But he isn’t in favor of comparing this year to 2023.

“I’m not even thinking about last year or how it affected me or this and that,” Hubbard said. “I’m onto a new year. This is a new team, new coaching staff. New mindset for me. New challenges, just have to face them.”

Quick hits

▪ Punter Johnny Hekker punted seven times for an average of 44.4 yards per attempt. He has punted 12 times over the first two games.

▪ Tight end Tommy Tremble, in his return to the lineup, caught three passes for 23 yards. He led the receivers in receiving yards and had the biggest gain — a 12-yard snag — for the Panthers.

▪ Young hasn’t thrown a regular-season touchdown pass since Dec. 24, 2023. He had two touchdown tosses against the Green Bay Packers in that Week 16 game. Since that matchup, Young has thrown four combined interceptions in his past four games.

▪ The Panthers are 2 for 22 on third-down conversions this season. They didn’t convert on third down against the Chargers until there was 7:45 left in the game.

▪ Outside linebacker D.J. Johnson and defensive end Jayden Peevy combined for a sack on Chargers QB Justin Herbert in the second half. Peevy was credited with creating a forced fumble, which was collected by the defense.

▪ Cornerback Jaycee Horn’s first-quarter interception was his first pick in a regular-season game since Dec. 11, 2022. He intercepted QB Geno Smith of the Seattle Seahawks in that 2022 game.