What Frank Reich said after Carolina Panthers’ ‘winnable’ loss to Tennessee Titans
The Carolina Panthers showed flashes of life but ultimately continued their offensive struggles at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, falling to the Tennessee Titans 17-10 on Sunday afternoon.
Head coach Frank Reich discussed why his 1-10 team couldn’t score points again, what he thought of rookie quarterback Bryce Young’s performance and more in his postgame press conference.
Here’s a recap of what he said.
Frank Reich opening statement
“Really the message is we gotta do a better job on offense — coaching and playing — as far as protecting the passer. Just too many sacks, too many pressures and holding calls. We gotta do a better job so we can stay in phase, give Bryce more time. I thought there were times Bryce looked good throwing the ball down the field. We had a few nice chunk plays like that, so as coaches and players, we gotta find a way to protect the quarterback.
“And then defensively, we played solid on defense. We played good on defense for the most part. But the challenge is: We gotta create some turnovers. You’re playing a young quarterback (Tennessee rookie Will Levis). We gotta find a way to create a turnover somewhere in there, to make a play and give us a short field to score some points.”
Any discussion with team owner Dave Tepper immediately after the game?
“No I didn’t.”
On getting in third-and-long situations
“It’s been hard. We’ve had a couple nice drives. But then we get the ball moving, then we get a sack, or we get a penalty, get in long-yardage (situations) and then struggle to overcome that when we get out of phase. You know, you got second-and-20, second-and-18, those are hard to overcome. So we gotta figure that out.
“Any play-caller will tell you. It’s hard. You get out of phase: You probably just got out of phase because you got sacked, or got holding because of a pressure, and now you’re really put in the position to call another pass. Not all the time, I mean, we’ll mix it up and call some runs on second-and-extra-long, but for the most part we’re trying to throw it to get back to third-and-manageable. But there’s no question that it does put stress on you. But that’s fine. You gotta overcome that.”
Was final fourth-quarter throw a checkdown?
“We had something in. We talked about it, if they went zero (blitz), and went all-out blitz — so he made the right check. ...
“We’ve checked that play a couple times. And when you hit that play right versus zero, it’s a touchdown. ... DJ probably came a little further back then he needed to. He’s not normally the guy in there for that. But we had some receivers, had a couple guys go down. The play we called was going to put DJ on another in-cut, and he was primary, so we wanted him in that spot. So we just need to execute that better.”
Chandler Zavala, Cade Mays both injured at RG spot vs. Titans
“There’s no excuse. I have confidence in those guys. I think those guys are good players. We just need to coach better and play better, and get guys to step up and do a good job.”
Message to Panthers’ team after 1-10 start
“I think it’s important to be the same person. Be the same person. We come in on Mondays. We had a quote-unquote contract at the beginning of the year that every Monday we’d come in with the same mindset. We’d watch the film, play by play, figure out what we could do better. Win or lose. We’re looking more at the corrections that need to be made than the good things. Because that’s how you mostly get better.
“You know, you get frustrated. So sometimes you can get a little heated, but everybody understands that. We all feel that frustration. But the guys have been great. We come in there on Mondays. Everybody’s accountable, coaches and players. We know the mode: fight to get better, it’s week-to-week. We got three division opponents coming up. So it starts this week in Tampa.
“What are you going to do? You’re 1-10. What, are you going to start feeling sorry for yourself? You’re going to think something will magically fix everything? No. We lost a close football game today. These games are winnable. That message doesn’t fly when you’re 1-10, but I know these games are winnable. I know we have the players and the coaches to do that. So we regroup, and we get ready for this week.”
On rookie quarterback Bryce Young’s play
“I think Bryce is making steps and strides, and I thought he did it today. I thought he did a lot of good things today. I thought he pushed the ball down the field pretty well a few times. Had some nice scrambles. Was poised. Even when he gets hit, he continues to show physical toughness, and to bounce back. He doesn’t flinch.
“I saw him on the sideline talking to the guys before the last drive, and he’s poised. He’s excited to get out there for that last drive. We have confidence in him. We just need to help him out a little more.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2023 at 5:19 PM.
