Panthers’ Jonathan Mingo focuses on growth, not critics as he meshes with Bryce Young
Jonathan Mingo ran an out route toward the left sideline on third down with a Houston Texans defender nearly attached to his hip.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Panthers wide receiver created some last-second separation and turned his head to find a ball zooming toward his hands. The ball bounced off his palms and fell incomplete, forcing the Panthers to punt midway through the first quarter of their tight battle with the Texans.
Despite that drop, quarterback Bryce Young wasn’t deterred by the error from his fellow rookie starter. In the third quarter, Young went back to Mingo for what would be the biggest play of their respective rookie campaigns to this point.
Young hit Mingo on an intermediate route, setting the young receiver up for yards after the catch, and ultimately, a 40-yard connection that led to a much-needed 46-yard field goal in a 15-13 win over the Texans.
Not only did that big play lead to points, it also showed the trust Young has in his fellow draft classmate and the mental fortitude Mingo has in responding to a dropped pass.
“It’s football, man,” Mingo said to The Observer Wednesday. “Ain’t nobody going to be perfect — the only thing you can do is just keep working. That’s my mindset, just play the next play, keep going. Can’t do anything about the past, but you can do something about the future., so I just try to stay in the moment.”
Mingo, 22, was the 39th overall pick in April’s NFL Draft. The Panthers were enamored with his mixture of size and speed and viewed him as a future alpha playmaker in their offense. But through six games — he missed Week 4’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings with a concussion — the first year of Mingo’s career has been plagued with inconsistency.
The draft darling of the media scouting community has just 19 catches for 195 yards this season. He is second on the team in receptions and third in receiving yardage, but is significantly behind the output of veteran receiver Adam Thielen, who is having a renaissance year this season with 57 catches for 581 yards and four touchdowns.
While Mingo has caught 19 of his 33 targets, he’s yet to find the end zone. He’s also struggled with the occasional error, like the drop against Houston.
Still, Mingo, who has caught 11 passes for 131 yards over the past three games, believes plays like last week’s 40-yard catch-and-run can be major confidence-boosters that create momentum.
“Great confidence, because we finished that drive off with putting points on the board, and we didn’t score too many points the other day, but that contributed to the win,” Mingo said. “So, it felt great to make a play and that play ended up leading us down the road to a win. It just keeps building confidence, just going to practice every day, just putting good days on top of good days.”
The Panthers’ wideout room — outside of Thielen — has received its fair share of criticism locally and nationally. Many critics have noted, especially when critiquing Young, that the offensive weapons haven’t held up their end of the bargain. Mingo, in turn, has also received criticism — fair or not — based off his notable draft pedigree and the expectations that come with it.
“I don’t really pay attention to the outside noise, because everybody from the outside looking in doesn’t know what’s going on, they’re just critics and they’re not in our position,” Mingo said. “So, the thing we’re trying to do in our room is work. We all trust each other, we all believe in each other, so coaches always tells us, ‘Nobody is going to come and save us, we’ve got whatever we need, so go out and compete.’ We don’t care what other people say — we believe in each other and we know what we can do. We’re just going to keep getting better each week.”
Despite the struggles of his wideouts, Young still has plenty of confidence in the group.
Young and Mingo came into the league together as the Panthers’ top two draft picks, and they have bonded from their shared experience. Young sees the work Mingo has put in, and maybe more importantly, he’s also noticed the growth receiver has shown in recent weeks.
“You can just see he’s getting more and more comfortable with the offense,” Young said. “Obviously, all of the talent is there. He’s put in a tremendous amount of work this year, and obviously, up to this point, just leading up to it. Great guy, great competitor and he works hard in practice. And I think, really, it’s just we’re starting to see him get more comfortable.”
Mingo ranks 16th among his fellow rookie pass-catchers — including tight ends — in receptions and 15th in receiving yards. While he’s clearly more of a complementary piece at this point in his NFL journey, the young wideout has started to flash his talent and upside as of late.
If Mingo continues to make strides within the offense, and Young continues to trust him, the young receiver could be poised for a second-half surge during his rookie campaign.
“I feel like I’ve been getting better each week,” Mingo said. “I feel like after the concussion, I had a little time to get my body right and I feel like I’ve been stacking better weeks ever since then. Just trying to improve every week, trying to put good weeks on top of good weeks, so I can just keep on improving and getting better.”
Quick hits
▪ The Panthers released their initial injury report of Week 9 on Wednesday:
Did not participate: WR DJ Chark (elbow), LB Claudin Cherelus (knee), CB Troy Hill (illness), OLB Justin Houston (hamstring), TE Hayden Hurst (illness), OT Taylor Moton (knee/rest), WR/RB Laviska Shenault (ankle), WR Adam Thielen (rest)
Limited: S Vonn Bell (quadriceps), OLB Brian Burns (elbow), G Austin Corbett (knee), LB Frankie Luvu (hip), LB Chandler Wooten (hamstring), RB Raheem Blackshear (groin)
Along with the illnesses sidelining Hurst and Hill, the other big news on Wednesday was Bell’s return to practice after missing two games.
▪ Do-everything linebacker Luvu was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his work in the 15-13 win against the Texans. Luvu had 12 tackles, two breakups and a sack against CJ Stroud and the Texans on Sunday.
▪ Tight end Hurst was named the Panthers’ nominee for the NFL’s Salute to Service award on Wednesday. Hurst was one of three finalists for the award last season as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Fans can vote for nominees of the Salute to Service award at NFL.com/SaluteFanVote.
This story was originally published November 2, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
