The Carolina Panthers went into their Week 8 matchup against the Buffalo Bills without Bryce Young, and his absence was pretty evident. With Andy Dalton under center, the Panthers suffered their fourth loss of the season as the Bills rolled over them 40-9. After the game, head coach Dave Canales provided an update on Young, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

“If you look early this week, the plan is to try and get it back out there on the field Wednesday and see what he can do, but again, we’ve got to be smart, we’ve got to see where we’re at,” the HC told the reporters after the game. Young suffered an ankle injury during the Panthers’ 13-6 win over the New York Jets in Week 7.

Young completed 15-of-25 passes for 138 yards and one touchdown against the Jets before Dalton took over. As a result of his ankle injury, the quarterback was unable to do much this week. He was initially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Bills, but ESPN’s David Newton confirmed what many suspected.

“A league source told ESPN on Monday that Young would not play against Buffalo after an MRI determined the quarterback had a high ankle sprain,” ESPN’s David Newton wrote. “The source said the hope was that Young would be back for next week’s game against the Green Bay Packers.”

In his absence, the Panthers’ offense struggled tremendously, as the team tallied just 244 total yards. The silver lining, though? Well, Dave Canales and his crew are expecting their starting QB to get back on the field ahead of the Packers game. Meanwhile, Jay Glazer also shared a layer of optimism on Bryce Young’s possible return in Week 9.

“He was able to run straight ahead, full steam ahead. They gonna work him out now coming this week (running) side-to-side to see about next week,” he wrote ahead of the Panthers vs Bills clash. That said, the Bills snapped the Panthers’ three-game winning streak on Sunday while Young sat out.

Dave Canales addressed the Panthers’ offensive struggles

The Bills tallied more rushing yards (245) than the Panthers’ total yards. On top of that, the Panthers had more turnovers (3) than scoring drives (2). That sums up the ugly 40-9 loss with Dalton under the center. And right after the game, the Panthers’ head coach wasn’t shy of pointing out the obvious mistakes.

“We were not able to get our run game going today, went to the past game, and that’s where the turnovers happened. Pretty clear story right there,” Canales said. “We made it really hard on ourselves against the 15th and, you know, made it a really challenging situation for us. So we’d love to see better execution of those things in those areas and be able to move on with that.”

Dalton wasn’t efficient against the Bills. The QB completed 16 of 24 for 175 yards and one interception, while also taking seven sacks. In the process, he committed all three turnovers, including one pick and a couple of fumbles.

Josh Allen and James Cook tormented the Panthers, as the quarterback completed 12-of-19 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown while also adding another two scores on the ground. Meanwhile, Cook rushed for 216 yards on 19 carries and scored 2 TDs.

Long story short: The Panthers ended their three-game winning streak, all thanks to an ugly offensive and defensive performance. And heading into Week 9 against the Packers on the road, one thing’s clear: The Panthers now yearn for Bryce Young to return from his ankle injury.