Matt Rhule defends his process

— Rhule praised the “mental toughness” of quarterback Sam Darnold, who entered the game in the second quarter to some jeers.

And to his credit, Darnold said he tried to compartmentalize things as well as he could, in his first game action since Week 9.

Asked about coming onto the field to something other than full support, Darnold said he was simply trying to control what he could control.

“Just do my job. That’s the biggest thing,” Darnold said. “I feel like a lot of these questions are going to be answered with that response. I just have to go out there and do my job. That’s really all I was thinking during that moment.”

Of course, any negative reception could have been because of the absence of Cam Newton rather than the presence of Sam Darnold, and Darnold seemed aware of that.

“I’m sure a lot of the fans are passionate about Cam,” he said. “That’s very obvious. So I’m thinking that’s what it was. Cam’s done so much for this city and so much for this organization. I’m sure that’s what it was.”

Darnold first throw was a strong one — a 63-yard connection to Shi Smith, and he finished the game 15-of-32 for 190 yards passing. It wasn’t a great day, but it also wasn’t a situation conducive for the passing game. The Buccaneers sacked Darnold four times and Newton three times. That seven was the high total for the Panthers this year.

So when it came down to assessing his own play, Darnold was clear: “Not good enough. Left some plays out there. Didn’t complete enough footballs.”