What Frank Reich Said Following the Loss to Detroit

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich spoke with the media following Saturday's game.

RE: Production from backup wide receivers, specifically Shi Smith

"Obviously, we are going to get in here and dive into the tape. I thought there were some good moments. Obviously, a lot of little mistakes here and there. But I’m going to need to take the time. Like we said the other day, this is a very valuable tape really to try to figure out these last roster spots. So, we will take our time with that."

RE: Nice to see Bryce Young running the ball

"Yeah, and his instincts. We got to work on his sliding a little bit. He has that in him. He has that instinct. He has that make-you miss, like even when a guy has him dead to rights. We’ve seen that in practice - little snippets of that. You come out, a guy has him, he has that little stop-start hesitation move that is hard to figure out so it was good by him."

RE: Adam Thielen injury

"Just got the wind knocked out of him. Is that the one he got hurt on? [Yeah] Just got the wind knocked out of him."

RE: Thielen’s reaction to injury

"I didn’t see that part of it. First, I thought it might had been head but then they said he just got the wind knocked out of him."

RE: Impact on Bryce Young to get a touchdown drive

"I think it helps. I don’t think it is do-or-die. I don’t think it is life or death. We’ve said it all week, we would like to go out there and have some success as the first offense, the first unit. I thought we had two solid drives so every little bit helps."

RE: Aiming to not have minus plays tonight compared to Giants game

"No doubt. Just got to eliminate. We can’t beat ourselves so we have to eliminate mistakes. We had a penalty in the one drive. We had a 2nd and 4 and went back to 2nd and 9 but I think that was it and it didn’t stop the drive. I don’t think that penalty stopped the drive. But no doubt, in this game, we understand you can’t beat yourself. We have to minimize those mistakes. They are going to happen. So, when they do happen, you have to show that you can overcome them. We did do a better job early on in the game of avoiding some of those small mistakes."

RE: Camerun Peoples reception overturned to a fumble out of the end zone and touchback

"You trust the process. Obviously, I didn’t like the call but we will get a good look at it and we will have a chance to talk to them. I just want to understand it better. I really just want to understand it a little bit better. But, you trust the guys there to make the right call so I’m thankful it was only a preseason game."

RE: Bryce Young’s performance tonight

"I think he was sharp, productive, made plays and showed even more playmaking ability with his feet. The throw for the touchdown. There was another throw to Adam [Thielen] on kind of a big box throw that Adam lost the ball in the lights that I think had a decent chance to be completed but Adam lost the ball in the lights. I thought he was accurate and made plays."

RE: Derek Wright

"Yes, I give a lot of credit to Derek because he got a little bit banged up in the last game and he fought through it. He wanted to desperately play. He is a tough guy and he’s had a great offseason, a great training camp. Started tonight, he was in there for DJ Chark Jr. I like what Derek has done. We will look at everything and evaluate. Obviously, tough decisions ahead but certainly he has done well for himself."

RE: Impressions of the offensive line

"I thought the protection was good. Obviously, go back and look at the film. It might have been maybe one thing that got through. Again, we didn’t call as many runs tonight but that was by design; wanted Bryce to just throw it a little. You know every game you try to go and try to accomplish a little something. You know last week against the Giants, with all of their blitzing, I just didn’t want to get into a pass fest against a team that was going to blitz on every down. You know this week I knew they played more straight up, so it was an opportunity just to kind of test the pass game a little bit, test the protection upfront a little bit like that. I thought they did a good job."

RE: Is Chandler Zavala the starter at right guard?

"No, I’m not saying that yet. Obviously, that’s ideal. We will evaluate his tape. We have the next few days to kind of figure that out and make that decision."

RE: Whether three wideouts will play at Atlanta?

"I don’t know yet, I really don’t. I try to be optimistic on those things, but at the same time you desperately want them to be healthy. But, I’m not desperate about if it happens or not, if that makes sense. You have to do what you have to do. We will figure it out if they are not healthy, the next man up. We will figure out other ways to do what we have to do to be productive."

RE: Providing Eddy Pineiro an opportunity in the game

"Yeah, it was good. It was good to get him out there. I was glad we got that opportunity. He has been kind of itching to get back out there. Listen, he had such a good year last year, he is an accomplished kicker, would have been fine. But I think just getting that one operation, that one make in there is a big deal going into week one."

RE: A rough second quarter, defensively

"It was sloppy. I mean it was a sloppy second quarter there, on both sides of the ball, really. The end of the half did not go very well. I mean we have a nice two-minute drive, you know we turn it over, they get a huge play, we get the ball back. You know normally I just kneel down right there at the end of a half with that amount of time left, but you know we are trying to evaluate players, so we run the ball just so we can get that on tape and evaluate a run. We turn it over again and they score three more points. And then in between there it was a little bit sloppy too. We have to get those things cleaned up, and we will. I feel confident in that."

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

Facebook - @PanthersOnSI

Twitter - @AllPanthers_ and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_