Bryce Young had a better opener, though he couldn’t enjoy it

But there were enough moments that the Panthers were able to at least glimpse flickers of positives.

“He did what he had to do,” veteran guard Robert Hunt said of Young. “He felt good. He felt confident, and he sat in the pocket and delivered the football well, and the guy made plays, and we did a good job protecting. So, that’s what it was. Bryce did a fantastic job today, man. He looked good.”

But good luck convincing him of that. Young’s mood was as dour as anyone’s in the locker room, despite his personal success.

If anything, he appreciated the operational aspects, since this was also the first game with offensive coordinator Brad Idzik calling plays.

“Yeah, Brad did a great job,” Young said. “I thought that the communication was great; on the sideline, communication was great. I think he did a great job calling it; it’s on us to make some more stuff come to life for him. Again, we didn’t do enough today, but I thought that, you know, especially this being his first game, we have a lot of respect for that defense; they did a great job, so it was great.

“Now it’s tomorrow, come back, and a lot of stuff we’ve got to be better at, so we’re going to grow from it.”