Sam Darnold Reacts to Baker Mayfield Being Named Starting QB

Darnold gives his opinion on the results of the QB competition.

As expected, Matt Rhule named Baker Mayfield the Carolina Panthers starting quarterback on Monday.

Following today's practice, Sam Darnold met with the media to discuss the team's decision to go with Mayfield as the starter moving forward.

"He just told me and as a quarterback, as an athlete, as a man, you just want to hear the truth. And I appreciate Coach Rhule and the coaching staff for giving me the truth. I appreciate the way he handled it.

"My mindset is, it is what it is. For me, right now, I'm going to do everything I can to support Baker and get him ready to play a game. When the regular season comes around, I'm going to do everything I can to support him and be ready for when my time comes."

Darnold has remained a professional throughout this entire situation, dating all the way back to the early portion of the offseason when the team was mentioned in trade rumors for Deshaun Watson and had been linked to several quarterbacks in the 2022 NFL Draft.

"I believe in who Sam Darnold is," said Rhule. "I believe in how hard he's worked and how professional he's been. At the end of the day, we felt like Baker's made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. We felt like it was right to make that move for this team."

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