Carolina Panthers, New York Jets cancel joint practice due to heavy rains in South Carolina

The Carolina Panthers are officially packing up camp and heading back to Charlotte. The team was supposed to have one more joint practice with the New York Jets in Spartanburg, South Carolina on Thursday, but heavy rainfall is causing safety concerns.

Now, the two teams will wrap up preparations for their preseason matchup on Saturday on their own.

The game on Saturday is the first preseason game for the Panthers, but the Jets already have one under their belts. New York took on the Cleveland Browns in the Hall of Fame game, losing 21-16. New Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers did not play against the Browns and will not play versus the Panthers either.

I’m no Panovich, but this seems like a reasonable decision. pic.twitter.com/V8dhnzwOcI

— Darin Gantt (@daringantt) August 10, 2023

Although the joint practices have now been cut short due to the weather, the two teams practiced together on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Carolina is debuting first-round quarterback Bryce Young as the starter. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft has assumed QB1 duties for the last two weeks.

Panthers to start Bryce Young versus Jets

Head coach Frank Reich announced plans to start Young versus the New York Jets at practice on Sunday. He did not reveal, however, how many snaps or series he’ll play during his NFL debut.

“I do have an idea,” Reich said, via ESPN. “There is flexibility in the plan. There has to be. That’s just being smart about it. We have a general idea how many plays we want to get through the whole preseason, but that can be adjusted by 10 or 20 percent depending on how things go.”

Reich said Young is handling all that pressure on his shoulders in a professional manner, which is what they expected of him.

“The way he should, right?” Reich said on NFL Network earlier this week. “That’s all of our expectations. When you’re the No. 1 pick of the draft, which, of course, you would expect him to handle it like a pro. This isn’t his first rodeo. He’s been under pressure his whole life, had those high expectations on him his whole life. He knows and we know that we do want to win big but we also know we have to prove that day-by-day.”

The Panthers selected Young with the No. 1 overall pick after he threw for 8,200 yards and 79 touchdowns in 27 games for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.