By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. AP Pro Football Writer
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have a three-game winning streak for the first time with Bryce Young as their starting quarterback.
Now, they’ll have to see if Young is healthy enough to go for four in a row.
Young threw a touchdown pass before leaving with an ankle injury, Jaycee Horn had two interceptions of Tyrod Taylor after New York benched Justin Fields and the Panthers beat the winless Jets 13-6 in a snoozefest Sunday.
It marked the first time since Young was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 that the Panthers (4-3) have a three-game winning streak with him as their starter — but he was unable to finish this one.
Young went to the locker room late in the third quarter, appearing to walk with a slight limp. The Panthers announced his return was questionable before ruling him out.
“We’re evaluating him for the right ankle,” coach Dave Canales said. “So, we’re taking all the information and we’ll look at him when we get home some more and see where we’re at.”
Andy Dalton took over with 34 seconds left in the quarter when Carolina got the ball back leading 13-3 following a one-handed interception by Horn in the end zone. Young was sacked by Jowon Briggs on his last snap before the Panthers punted.
“He was trying to get out of trouble there,” Canales said of Young. “And he got caught up a little bit.”
Young was 15 of 25 for 138 yards and a touchdown. Dalton was 4 of 7 for 60 yards as the Panthers moved above .500 for the first time this late in a season since they started 5-3 in 2019. It was also Carolina’s first road win this season after dropping its first three.
Xavier Legette had the best game of his career, catching nine passes for 92 yards and a score. And the Panthers’ defense limited the Jets to 220 yards of total offense and had six sacks.
“It was just us staying together as a defense,” said Horn, who has already tied his single-season high with three interceptions. ”We knew coming into the game, we were going to have to play good defense.”
Meanwhile, the Jets (0-7) remained without a victory under Aaron Glenn, who’s the first coach in franchise history to lose the first seven games of his tenure. The Jets also joined the 1996 and 2020 squads as the only teams to start 0-7.
And now they, too, have a major question at quarterback.
With the Jets trailing 13-3 in the third quarter, Fields was benched in favor of Taylor. Fields was 6 of 12 for 46 yards in the first two quarters, unable to do much with the offense with top wide receiver Garrett Wilson out with a knee injury. Glenn then decided to make the change.
“I understand the nature of the quarterback change and, listen, we needed a spark,” Glenn said. “At that time, I felt it was the right time to do it. It was my call.”
The benching came after Fields was just 9 of 17 for 45 yards in the Jets’ 13-11 loss to Denver last Sunday in London, when New York had a franchise-worst minus-10 net yards passing.
Taylor moved the offense with a little more success than Fields, but his two interceptions short-circuited drives. Taylor was 10 of 22 for 126 yards.
Glenn was uncertain who’ll be the starting quarterback next Sunday when the Jets face the Bengals in Cincinnati, saying he needed to take some time to consider the situation and talk with his staff.
“We’ll make the right decision,” Glenn said. “Whatever the decision is, I’m going to go with it and we’re going to move forward.”
On the Jets’ opening drive, Glenn chose to go for it on fourth-and-5 from the Panthers 33 rather than try a 51-yard field goal. But Fields’ throw to Josh Reynolds sailed incomplete for a turnover on downs.
The Panthers took advantage, capping an efficient drive with a 30-yard field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald to go up 3-0.
Fields left briefly in the first quarter to be checked for a head injury after he was walloped by Nick Scott as he slid for a first down on a run. Fields popped back up, but his Jets teammates took exception to the shot — which was penalized for a late hit — and there was pushing and shoving on the field.
Fields, who missed Week 3 with a concussion, was taken into the medical tent and replaced by Taylor. Nick Folk’s 34-yard field goal tied it at 3 a few plays later. Fields was OK and checked back in on the Jets’ next series.
The Panthers took a 10-3 lead with 1:11 left in the opening half when Young ran away from pressure and found Legette for a 3-yard touchdown. The drive was helped by Tetairoa McMillan’s 11-yard catch on fourth-and-3 and a 26-yard catch-and-run by Chuba Hubbard to set up the score.
Injuries
Panthers: LB Princely Umanmielen left twice with injuries, but returned after both.
Jets: CB Sauce Gardner and RB/KR Kene Nwagwu both left with concussions. … DT Jay Tufele injured a knee and didn’t return.
Up next
Panthers: Home against the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.
Jets: Head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals next Sunday.