How much pressure is on Panthers QB Sam Darnold in 2021?
By Dean Jones
Sam Darnold on pressure
Pressure is what you make of it.
Either you thrive under the spotlight.
Or you wilt.
It’s that simple, really. Sam Darnold has been under pressure on and off the field his whole career and although this is nothing different, the stakes are undoubtedly higher as the quarterback looks to reignite his career with the Carolina Panthers.
Darnold left a really strong impression during the first portion of OTAs, demonstrating his strong mechanics and wasting no time stamping his authority from a leadership standpoint.
The Panthers need this to continue throughout training camp and whenever he’s on the field during preseason games before he gets an early chance to put one over on his former team in Week 1.
As for Darnold. He knows what is expected and the high standards set by himself are where it all starts.
"“I’ve always had high expectations for myself, first and foremost. Expectations outside of that, to be honest, besides my teammates and my coaches, it doesn’t mean a whole lot. I think for me, it’s about what we expect as a team, what we expect to win, and for me, it’s about completing the ball and getting the team down the field and scoring touchdowns. That’s all I care about. As long as we do that and I do my job, we’re all good.”"
Winning might be all that matters. But Darnold hasn’t done a ton of that in the NFL and it won’t take long for the doubts to surface if Carolina doesn’t get off to a solid start with some favorable early games on the 2021 schedule.
It appears to be a great fit for all parties from the outside looking in. However, nobody will know for sure until the pressure cooker atmosphere that comes with competitive action finally arrives.
Darnold has to be ready for anything coming his way and his career as an NFL starter depends on it.