Quick Hits: Decision on McCall, Thomas Brown Developing as Play-Caller + More

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich met with the media Monday afternoon.

Why the decision was made to waive defensive lineman Marquan McCall

"These are always tough decisions. We appreciate his contribution. Honestly, we're doing it now because we think he's going to be on a roster somewhere it just comes down to two things. It comes down to a fit for us and what we're trying to do and then we've had a couple guys at that position who have really looked good. I think for us in our scheme, there's more nuances to it than the traditional thing, so I'll just leave it at that."

What they liked about veteran CB Troy Hill

"He's experienced. Experience in our system. The scouting department all liked him. Some of our defensive coaches have a history with him, so it's a good fit."

Why Bryce Young isn't playing more in preseason games

"I feel he'll be ready. He's very accomplished mentally, maturity-wise. It's always that healthy tension of getting him enough reps and exposing them to undo risk of injury. And honestly, especially last week when you go up against that defensive scheme we went up against last week where it's a blitz fast, how much of it is worth it? It's great to prepare for it and to go through the mental exercise of we got to get ready for all these blitzes, but it's just risk reward on how much do you play [him]."

If Bryce Young will play vs. Lions

"We're planning on playing him. Sometimes a lot of teams won't play their starters in the last preseason game. We're going to play Bryce and play our offensive starters. Still want to get more reps. I think we had about 20 last week or something like that. It's kind of TBD again. It could be about the same. It could be a little bit less. It could be a little bit more. I'd like to get a little rhythm going, accomplish certain things."

Thoughts on Thomas Brown as a play-caller

"He's doing great. I've made no bones about it. Since I've been here, I eventually want to make that transition. First of all, whether I'm calling it or he's calling it, it's very collaborative. I would envision whether it's this year or next year, I'm not ruling out anything. The long-term goal and vision is for me to transfer those duties to him. And I will say this, he is way ahead. For me in accessing him it's not about how many yards did we gain or how many points did we score when he's calling it, it's more how does he sound on the phone, how is the conversations with the quarterbacks. He feels like a seasoned play-caller to me. I also know it's a long process."

If Eddy Pineiro will be ready for the regular season

"I do think he'll be ready for the season. There's a small chance he'll get a rep or two this week. We might work him back into practice a little bit, but we're not going to overdo it. If he does play in this game, it'll be limited opportunities, probably shorter stuff and then just wait until the regular season for kickoffs and stuff."

You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:

Facebook - @PanthersOnSI

X - @AllPanthers_ and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_