GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young couldn't escape the pressure against the Green Bay Packers' pass rush on Thursday night at Lambeau Field. He was pressured early and often behind a makeshift offensive line, and with a brace affixed to his left knee, his typical fluidity in the pocket appeared to be somewhat compromised.
Young's left knee, which was injured in a Week 3 road loss to the Cleveland Browns, hadn't held him back in previous weeks, but in the team's primetime 27-19 loss to the Packers, he failed to regularly create and extend plays with his trademark quickness.
And yet, Young -- who was pressured on 48.9% of his dropbacks and threw just one pass of 20 yards or more against the Packers, according to NFL Next Gen Stats -- refused to use his knee as an excuse.
"I'm fine," Young said. "Everyone's dealing with something at this point. It's football. Nothing like that is an excuse. Go out there, play the game -- blessed to be able to do that. That's all that matters."
Young was pressured on 22 pass plays. He was sacked six times and completed just six of 16 passes for 46 yards and an interception when under duress.
He was hit nine times.
"I would say that he certainly doesn't look like he's got that quick, make-you-miss-type of deal, but he was able to create some space for himself," coach Dave Canales said. "But the rush got after us and that's the bottom line. We've got to take care of that first part of it, so we have an element of time to be able to execute the play."
Early-season waiver-wire pickup Corey Bullock filled in for starting left guard Damien Lewis for the second time in four games. But Bullock was eventually replaced himself after suffering a quad injury in the third quarter. Practice-squad call-up Jake Curhan, a journeyman who played in 13 games (one start) for the Panthers last year, filled in for him.
"It's kind of what I've been doing for the last five years, six years," Curhan said about the spot duty. "You've got to get into that rhythm, into that flow. Unfortunately, it took me one bad play [a sack allowed in the third quarter] to get in it. Otherwise, I felt pretty good. Was a little [frustrated] about that one, but nothing you can do but move on."
According to Next Gen Stats, Young faced more than half of his pressures (13 of 22) from the edge. First-round pick Monroe Freeling, who was starting at right tackle again with Taylor Moton (fibula/ankle) done for the season, struggled to maintain his pass protection throughout the game.
Next Gen Stats flagged Freeling with four total pressures and a sack allowed.
"It's all about opportunities," Freeling said. "You're given opportunities, you've got to capitalize on them. And if you don't, you don't win."
In the postgame locker room, right guard Robert Hunt, the lone member of the line not charged with a sack against the Packers, paused for roughly 15 seconds before assessing what the Packers did well against the Panthers' protection.
"They brought some things - had some really good schemes," Hunt said. "They kind of got us on some. They schemed us up a little bit. ... At the same time, we've got to be better. O-line needs to play better."
Hunt, who is typically jovial, quietly discussed the frustration of a poor performance by his unit.
"It just wasn't a good performance," Hunt said.
Following the game, Canales didn't make excuses for Young and backed his quarterback's toughness. Young has been on the injury report for roughly a month, and he hasn't missed a snap due to the ailment.
"To me, he gets to every game day and he's battling and competing, so as long as he feels strong enough to do that, and we're taking care of him -- we have all the information -- then he knows, he wants to be out there," Canales said. "And we're not going to keep him from that. We're going to be smart about things, and we feel great with where he's at. But that's something to look at and make sure we keep an eye on."
The Panthers fell to 3-4 after a 3-2 start.
Young, who set the franchise record for most passing TDs (11) through the first games of a season, has just two touchdowns passes over the past two weeks. He has led just five total scoring drives in the consecutive losses.
Young, through seven games, has faced 64 pressures this season. That's the second-most pressure received in the NFL behind only New Orleans Saints QB Tyler Shough's 69 pressures.
And as the QB stood at the podium, dejected by another loss, he offered a simple message in a glaring defeat.
"They executed better," Young said. "A lot of stuff was on film, but they just do a really good job of disguising. They're a really good defense. So, we have a lot of respect for them. They were better than us today, for sure. They deserve that win. We should have been better. We've just got to execute better -- that's all it is."