ATLANTA -- Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was writhing in pain as he clutched his right ankle -- the one that forced him to miss a game earlier this season -- in the first quarter of Sunday's 30-27 overtime victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Coach Dave Canales and teammates were out on the field on a knee wondering whether Young would return, particularly after athletic trainers took him straight to the locker room.
Young returned -- and then turned in a career day.
The No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, with his ankle heavily taped, passed for a franchise-record 448 yards and three touchdowns. He drove the Panthers in position for the winning field goal in overtime thanks to a short pass that tight end Tommy Tremble turned into 54-yard gain. Young almost single-handedly helped Carolina improve to 6-5 and move a half-game behind the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-4).
Afterward, Young didn't hide the amount of pain he was in.
"'Pain' is an accurate way to sum it up,'' Young said. "You just breathe through the pain.''
Teammates marveled at Young's return and performance.
"I saw him come back into the game,'' said wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who had eight catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns. ''I'm like, 'Hey, you good?' He's like, 'Yeah!' I'm like, 'Well, next time get your ass up.'
"He's always level-headed. The moment is never too big. He's built for moments like this one."
After a 17-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints a week ago, when the Saints shut down the run and dared Young to beat them, some questioned whether he was capable of a big moment like this. While he didn't light it up with deep shots Sunday, his 36-yard touchdown pass to a struggling Xavier Legette on the first drive of the second half ended a streak of 0-for-5 on passes of 30-plus yards and started the comeback.
In the end, Young topped Cam Newton's single-game Panthers record of 432 passing yards, set in 2011 during a Week 2 game against the Green Bay Packers.
"Definitely honored,'' Young said of breaking Newton's record. "I have so much respect for Cam, all that he's accomplished. Hearing that is definitely an honor."
But, Young reminded: "Individual awards, that's not what I'm after. They don't mean anything. I'm grateful that we won. We had the most important stat, that we won."
It all kept the Panthers in position for a winning season and a shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2017, the year before owner David Tepper purchased the team. The schedule gets tougher. Carolina's next two games are against the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams, both contenders. But the Panthers also have two opportunities remaining against the first-place Buccaneers, so players knows anything is possible.
"That's exactly the vision and the dream that I hoped for, that if we played complementary football for a long time we'll put ourselves in position for the finish,'' Canales said of being in this position.
That Young finished after the injury didn't surprise Canales; he said he has seen that resiliency in his quarterback since he took over the team last season.
"He gave me a thumbs up and said, 'I'm good,'" Canales said of seeing Young walk back on the field without missing a series. "So that's good enough for me.''
It was a scary moment when Young went down after Falcons corner Billy Bowman Jr. stepped hard on the ankle that Young first injured Oct. 19 in a win against the New York Jets.
"I was very upset,'' right tackle Taylor Moton said. "It hurt my heart to see when he didn't get back up immediately. ... But he's tough, tough as nails. I've never questioned his toughness.''
Running back Rico Dowdle said he was particularly upset because he felt responsible for missing Bowman.
"What was going through my mind was, 'F---, I can't believe I let that happen,''' he said. "When they told me he was good, I was like, 'I won't let it happen again.'"
Young put up the NFL's third-highest passing total this season. The two higher totals were in losses. For a stretch in the fourth quarter, it appeared Young's effort might be in vain. A teammate stepped on the ankle on a fourth-down play to stop the rally, but the Carolina defense held tight.
"He's a warrior, man,'' said Tremble, who was Young's last read on the 54-yard play that set up the winning kick. "People don't understand how hard that is, with him and his ankle getting messed up like that. It was tough for him to come back and play for us and still go down again and come back again.
"That's the reason we were able to win.''