What advice would Jake Delhomme give Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young? He tells us

As the Carolina Panthers’ primary radio analyst and a football junkie, Jake Delhomme has watched Bryce Young take steps — and missteps — all season.

On The Charlotte Observer’s latest “Processing Blue” Panthers podcast episode, I asked Delhomme what advice he would give Young if he was sitting across from the rookie QB right now.

Said Delhomme: “The best advice I would give him is, ‘Hey, buddy, I promise you, it’s going to get better. You feel like the world is caving in on you and sometimes even the simplest routes that you can complete in your sleep, it’s like it’s a strain to complete them.’ But the game will slow down. You’ve just go to battle through this and take it one play at a time.”

Delhomme’s first season with the Panthers came in 2003 and had a very different result than Young’s. While the Panthers are 1-12 entering their 1 p.m. home game with Atlanta on Sunday, Delhomme’s initial year with Carolina 20 years ago started with a monstrous game-winning comeback in his first game. It ended with him narrowly missing out on a Super Bowl win, as Carolina was edged in the final 10 seconds by New England in a game in which Delhomme would have likely been the Super Bowl MVP — had the Panthers won the game.

Then again, Delhomme was 28 years old during that season — Young is 22 — and had already been an NFL backup for several seasons. Young was thrown into the fray immediately, starting from Week 1, and has already seen his head coach and quarterbacks coach get fired.

Delhomme said that the worst part for him after any loss when he played poorly was simple.

“You put so much pressure on yourself,” Delhomme said. “And I’m not saying Bryce feels this way, but for me, I hated looking my teammates in the eyes, knowing that I didn’t do enough for us to win. That’s the big thing that ate me alive. ... And I know just watching him, it means a lot to him. ... So it’s just like: ‘Buddy, take a deep breath.’”

The offseason, Delhomme said, will be the time for Young to evaluate himself and improve, with the aid of the yet-to-be-hired new coaching staff.

“It can’t slow down for him (Young) right now because he’s taking care of his body and getting ready for the next week,” said Delhomme, who was the Panthers’ primary quarterback from 2003-09 and still holds the team’s all-time record for playoff wins by a QB with five. “When he can take a step back, (it will be) ‘What do I have to work on? Is it this drop? Is it that throw? Is it my arm strength?’”

A member of the Panthers’ Hall of Honor since 2019, Delhomme also offered his thoughts on numerous other topics, including:

▪ What type of coach the Panthers should hire when the season ends and what he thinks about prospective coaching hire Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator.

▪ A blow-by-blow description of how his 85-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad in the Super Bowl happened.

▪ Who he would choose as the Panthers’ most valuable player in the 2023 season (Hint: The player doesn’t play offense).

▪ Why the 2023 Panthers are less talented than the 2022 Panthers.

▪ The biggest adjustment between college football and pro football, and what Young is going through right now with that change.

▪ When he thought he personally reached rock bottom with the Panthers.

For all of that, download and listen to The Charlotte Observer’s “Processing Blue” podcast with Delhomme as special guest.

The podcast debuts new episodes each week during the NFL season and features Observer staff writers analyzing the Panthers. Previous special guests have also included former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. “Processing Blue” is free and available wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch the full episode on YouTube.