By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is scheduled to get his second straight start on Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, who expect to have Derek Carr return under center for the first time since Week 5.

Andy Dalton was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, but Carolina coach Dave Canales said he wanted to err on the side of caution and give Dalton another week to recover from the thumb injury he suffered in a car accident last week.

Dalton will be the team’s No. 2 quarterback.

“It really was me taking the decision out of Andy’s hands,” Canales said. “If you were to ask Andy, ‘can you go?’ he would tell you yes. But he is a week removed from a thumb injury. I just want to make sure we are putting him out there in the right state and the right framework. And I’m excited for Bryce to have another opportunity to build on the things.”

Carr, meanwhile, practiced on Wednesday for the first time since injuring an oblique muscle in a game at Kansas City on Oct. 7.

Saints coach Dennis Allen said Carr was on “a little bit of a pitch count.”

“I’m really encouraged by what I saw today,” Allen said while discussing Carr’s form. “Signs are optimistic for this weekend.”

Carr has missed three straight games — all losses for the Saints, who are on a six-game skid, their longest since 2005.

Rookie Spencer Rattler started in Carr’s place and New Orleans lost all three games by 18 or more points. Fellow reserve QB Jake Haener is expected to serve as Carr’s backup this week, Allen said.

Carr was 19 of 23 for 200 yards with three touchdowns in the Saints’ 47-10 rout of the Panthers in the season opener at the Superdome. The Saints built a 30-0 lead in the second quarter and were never challenged.

Young is 2-17 as an NFL starter, including a 0-3 mark against the Saints.

The No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft was 13 of 30 passing for 161 yards with two interceptions in Week 1. He was benched a week later but returned to the starting lineup last week to replace the injured Dalton and had two touchdowns and two interceptions in a 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos.

Young said there was some good and bad with his performance and called it “something to build off of.”

Canales wouldn’t say who would start at quarterback beyond Sunday.

“We will take all of the information from this week and then go forward and make the next best decision for the team,” Canales said.

The Panthers will be without wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who was traded to Baltimore on Tuesday along with a sixth-round pick in 2025. The Panthers received only the Ravens’ fifth-rounder next year in return — a sign of just how eager the Panthers were to move on from Johnson.

Johnson was known for having locker room issues when he played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and criticized his quarterbacks.

Canales refused to say if the same issues played a factor in the team’s decision to trade Johnson.

“I’m not going to get too much of the specifics,” Canales said. “A lot of those conversations we are going to protect and keep in house. But we collectively thought that was the best decision for us.”

Young called Johnson a “great dude, great person.”

The Panthers (1-7) are hoping that veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen can return this week after missing the last five weeks with a hamstring injury.

Canales said it’s still unclear if rookie running back Jonathon Brooks will make his NFL debut this week. Brooks hasn’t played since injuring his knee last season at Texas.

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AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Source: wralsportsfan.com