What Frank Reich Said Following the Loss to Atlanta

Carolina Panthers head coach met with the media following today's game in Atlanta.

Head coach Frank Reich discussed today's game against the Atlanta Falcons with the media. Here are a handful of quotes from the postgame press conference. 

Opening thoughts

"We never accept losing. There's good things out there. Good things by each unit. Good things by certain individuals, but there's only one outcome in this league that's acceptable and that's winning. We didn't get that done today, so every player and coach has to own that."

Bryce Young's first game

"I'll have to go back and look at the tape, but he was very effective over the middle. He had a number of completions over the middle today, especially early on. Then they made a couple good plays I'll have to go back and look at the tape to kind of see where things broke down. He handled himself great. He was in complete control. Even after we had turnovers, it was never down. It was just next play mentality. The kind of pro that we expected."

Turnovers

"Disappointed in why we lost and there are multiple reasons for that. Obviously, we've got to protect the football, but I would be careful to say much more than that. Again, I've got to see the film and there's multiple things that go into turnovers. It's not always what it appears on the surface."

If the offensive approach changed after Atlanta regained the lead

"A little bit, but we got backed up. We had that funky thing where we ended up on the minus one with two offsetting penalties with a very strange rule. Not a strange rule, it's the rule, at least that's what they told me. We ended up in the minus one and just felt like we were going to be aggressive coming out being backed up. Ideally, you don't want to throw the ball 38 times. That's not terrible, but probably want to throw it a little bit less."

Thoughts on the punt return with two penalties

"I assumed it was a rekick. Two offsetting penalties. But they explained it to me. They took a long time looking it up and getting confirmation. They said it doesn't come up much."

Brian Burns' game despite everything that's going on

"I thought Brian played like he practices. He plays with something to prove out at practice every day. Did he have a little something extra to prove given the situation? You'll have to ask him that question. But what I saw was that's how he practices. He's a great player. He's absolutely integral, in every way. Not just as a player, but as a leader."

How Bryce Young will bounce back

"Bryce is the last person I'm worried about and how he'll handle this. He's got the maturity of someone way beyond his years. He's a team-first person. He'll be hard on himself and he should be. Every one of us coaches, and players should be hard on ourselves. In the next 24 hours, it should not taste good and we need to eat every bit of it. We got to feel the disappointment and the hurt. But not just feel it but we've got to figure out how to get better and I believe we'll do that as a team."

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