Weather report for Panthers vs. Patriots vindicates Bryce Young omission

The Carolina Panthers begin their preseason engagements with a road game against the New England Patriots on Thursday evening. It comes with a lot of firsts, including the head coaching debut of Dave Canales following his eye-catching appointment earlier this year.

That seems like a long time ago considering what's transpired since.

The Panthers have gone through yet another roster and front-office overhaul to get out of their current slump. Fans are approaching this with a sense of caution, knowing they've been burned by false promises and delusional projections under previous regimes. They also know not to ignore the red flags that emerge during Carolina's warmup contests before Week 1 at the New Orleans Saints.

It's a mistake Carolina's fanbase made last summer. Frank Reich stated that their bland offense was down to vanilla schemes and they were saving all their good stuff for the regular season. This never arrived and quarterback Bryce Young suffered more than most.

Young's been in the spotlight once again this week through no real fault of his own. It's been another encouraging week of practice for the signal-caller, but Canales is opting not to play him at Gillette Stadium.

The move caused significant debate among supporters. Especially after Andy Reid announced that Patrick Mahomes - a three-time Super Bowl winner and two-time NFL MVP - would turn out for one-quarter of the Kansas City Chiefs' preseason curtain raiser.

Weather report for Carolina Panthers vs. Patriots makes roster evaluations tough

Canales has his reasons for omitting Young from the lineup. Some are obvious. One overlooked factor could also have played a role in the coach's conclusion.

The latest weather report indicates Foxborough isn't going to have the best conditions for football on Thursday evening. It's expected to be overcast with occasional showers and light winds. The temperature is projected to reach a low of 64 degrees Fahrenheit with 93 percent humidity. The chance of rain is 50 percent currently.

Football players have to compete in all kinds of adverse weather. The Panthers know that better than most in an outdoor stadium. One of Young's two wins as a rookie came in an absolute monsoon against the Atlanta Falcons at Bank of America Stadium.

However, with difficult weather comes sloppier football, increased mistakes, and a greater risk of freak injuries occurring. Any prolonged rain during the clash will make roster evaluations difficult, especially for the skill positions. That's not ideal at this time of year, but rolling with the punches is something every NFL professional has to do.

The Panthers cannot afford Young getting hurt. They don't have veteran backup Andy Dalton right now. Their offensive line is a work in progress. Rain only raises the potential of unnecessary complications emerging by putting Carolina's prized possession in harm's way.

Considering how meticulous Canales is with his preparations, this won't have gone unnoticed. Whether it was the deciding factor or not is debatable, but the first-year head coach decided the risk wasn't worth it in the long run when factoring everything into the equation.

There will be a sense of vindication if the heavens open and rain pours down throughout. For the rest of Carolina's roster fighting to get noticed, they'll have to strap it up and rise to the occasion no matter how bad the conditions get.

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