Tetairoa McMillan’s quiet afternoon in Cleveland stood out for all the wrong reasons, and the Panthers know they need to get their top receiver more involved moving forward.
After opening the season with five catches in each of the first two games, McMillan was held to just two receptions on five targets in Sunday’s loss to the Cleveland Bears. He finished with 17 yards, a steep drop from the production he averaged last season, when he was just under 60 receiving yards per game.
A big part of that came from Denzel Ward. Cleveland’s five-time Pro Bowler and one of the NFL’s highest-paid cornerbacks spent the day making life miserable for McMillan. In 25 matchups, Ward limited him to two targets, and the only catch he allowed came against zone coverage.
“Let’s give Denzel Ward credit for doing a really good job of following him around and covering him,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said. “You know, it’s a tall task to be able to do that and to feel confidence to. He did an excellent job.”
Cleveland leaned heavily on man coverage, and that approach worked particularly well against Carolina’s No. 1 receiver. Canales said the Panthers have to do a better job of putting McMillan in positions where he can actually create separation and stay involved.
“As a staff, we gotta take responsibility for putting T-Mac in great situations and not putting him out there where Denzel could just play him outside as much,” Canales said. “Make sure we move him around appropriately, in as much as it fits in with the plan.”
Even with McMillan bottled up, Canales made it clear the Panthers can’t treat that as a reason to fade him from the game plan. If defenses want to put their best corner on him and play him straight up, Carolina still expects to find ways to get him the ball.
“Some of those opportunities are man-to-man, and when it is man-to-man, there’s still an opportunity for contested,” Canales said. “Bryce can find his opportunities to get him the ball as well.
So it’s all of us collectively. We know we gotta make T-Mac a part of what we’re doing.”
Bryce Young still put together a productive outing, completing 26 of 48 passes for 291 yards and a touchdown. With McMillan mostly taken away, Young spread the ball around to Brycen Tremayne, Darren Waller, Tommy Tremble and Mitchell Evans.
But if Carolina is going to be the kind of offense that regularly pushes past 30 points, McMillan has to be more than a side note. He led the team in receiving touchdowns last season, and the Panthers clearly want that version of him back in the center of everything.
Young, who is expected to speak to reporters Wednesday, touched on the issue briefly after the game and made it sound like the drought won’t last.
“There’s some stuff I can definitely do better,” Bryce Young said. “Obviously he’s a special player. He’s a huge part of this offense.”
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The bigger issue came when Young was injured during the game and will now go through tests, even if the early word from the head coach is that he should be fine for the next one. For a Panthers team trying to build on its young quarterbacks progress, the uncertainty is a reminder that his development and availability are now tied tightly together, especially with Young still operating on his rookie deal after the club picked up his fifth-year option. [Read more 🡒]