Bryce Young oversees opening-drive TD in brief preseason debut, and Panthers beat Bills 31-26

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Bryce Young made Panthers coach Dave Canales' decision easy in determining how long he was going to keep the Panthers' starting offense on the field in their preseason finale at Buffalo on Saturday.

All it took to reassure the coach his quarterback was ready, was watching Young cap a 12-play, 85-yard opening drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jordan Matthews in Carolina's 31-26 win.

''Oh, it was great, right? Couldn't have dreamt it better,'' Canales said, before referencing other key offensive players such as receivers Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen. ''Bryce looked sharp. Diontae and Adam looked great. I don't want to go through the whole list. But anyway, the first group, I loved seeing them out there today.''

Limited to just one series, and after the starters were held out of Carolina's first two preseason games, Young finished 6 of 8 for 70 yards, which was 9 more than third- and fourth-stringers Jack Plummer and Jake Luton combined for in a 15-12 loss to the New York Jets last weekend.

Just as important, the 2023 top overall pick showed how much he's grasped his first-year coach's new offensive system while getting the opportunity to deal with various challenges in a competitive setting.

Young converted a fourth-and-3 by bolting to his left and completing a 17-yard pass to Johnson on the run. On the next snap, a play-action fake led to Young hitting Thielen over the middle for a 21-yard gain. And the touchdown pass came on third down following two incompletions, with Young waiting in the pocket before Matthews came open over the middle of the field.

''I thought it was invaluable, something that we've got to continue to build off and carry into the future,'' Young said. ''There's practice but being able to have that in a game and there being consequences to it, I think it was great for us as an offense to be put in a situation and for us to overcome it.''

More injuries muddied the competition for Buffalo's final roster spots, particularly at running back, with NFL teams having to set their 53-player rosters by Tuesday.

Darrynton Evans scored Buffalo's first touchdown of the preseason with an 18-yard catch, but had to leave the game with an ankle injury. Frank Gore Jr. had 101 yards rushing, including a 5-yard touchdown run, but left the game late with a knee injury.

The Bills were so short on running backs, receiver/returner K.J. Hamler closed the game in the backfield and scored on a 1-yard run with 1:57 remaining.

Coach Sean McDermott did not have an immediate update on his injured players.

Another issue to crop up was kicker Tyler Bass missing a 51-yard field-goal attempt — he was good from 31 yards — in carrying over inconsistencies he's had in practice.

Otherwise, much of the focus was on Young, who provided a spark to a Panthers team coming off a league-worst 2-15 finish and an offense that ranked among the NFL's worst in several categories last season.

''I thought he did a pretty good job, not letting the pocket collapsing rattle him,'' said Johnson, who was acquired in an offseason trade with Pittsburgh. ''Those little things that we work on in practice obviously showed on that drive. So we just got to keep the consistency going, and the offense is going to be fine."

Quarterbacks

Bills starter Josh Allen was excused by the team for personal reasons a week after his maternal grandfather Vaughn Von Allman died after a lengthy illness.

Canales decided to rest primary backup Andy Dalton, noting the veteran had a good week in practice coming off a quadriceps injury, and also wanted to see more from Plummer, who finished 21 of 29 for 278 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass to Terrace Marshall and a 36-yarder to Jalen Coker to open the fourth quarter.

Panthers: Open regular season at the New Orleans Saints on Sept. 8.

Bills: Open regular season hosting the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 8.

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