Baker Mayfield will continue to be the starter; Sam Darnold is not ready

Some believe the Panthers should trade their starting quarterback, however, Darnold will remain on the disabled list.

CHARLOTTE, NC — The Carolina Panthers they can only continue with Baker Mayfield as quarterback for the lowest-performing offense in the NFLwith the headline of 2021 Sam Darnold at least a week away from being ready to come off the disabled list.

“It’s not close at the moment,” the coach accepted. Matt Rhule on monday about Sam Darnold, who suffered a high ankle sprain in late August. “Not this week. Maybe the window starts next week. This is a doctors thing. He’s not going to practice this week.”

Sam Darnold was eligible to be activated from injured reserve on Monday, but a source told adam schefter of ESPN that “it’s still going to be a while”.

“Baker is our quarterback,” he emphasized. Matt Rhule. “We have to keep finding ways to help him.”

Mayfield has the lowest QBR in the NFL in four weeks with 15.4. His 55.4 completion percentage, third-worst in the league, better only than two first-round picks in the 2021 draft: Justin Fields of the Chicago Bears (50.7) and Trey Lance of the San Francisco 49ers (48.4), who is out for the season with an ankle injury.

Baker Mayfield had three turnovers, two interceptions and a fumble in Sunday’s 26-16 loss to the arizona cardinals who left Carolina to 1-3.

It was the 10th time since entering the league in 2018 that he had three or more turnovers in a game, the most of any quarterback.

Baker Mayfield he also had five passes rejected at the line of scrimmage to raise his season total to a league-leading 11. Two came in the fourth quarter, one resulting in an interception and the other resulting in a turnover on attempts.

Both led to scores in a game that was tied at 10-10 before the final period.

“It has to be corrected,” he said. Matt Rhule.

Mayfieldthe No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft, has thrown for 747 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions after winning a training camp competition with Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, for the starting job.

Sam Darnold suffered his injury in the last preseason game of the panthers against the Buffalo Bills.

Sam Darnold he had his own problems as a starter last season. His total QBR of 33.2 ranked him 29th among qualified quarterbacks.

Mat Rhule He dismissed speculation that Mayfield’s struggles could be related to not getting as many preseason reps because they were evenly split with Darnold for most of camp.

“Right now, it’s about fixing this,” he said.

Scoring points has been a problem for the Panthers since Rhule was hired in 2020. Carolina is 1-26 in 37 games with Rhule when the opponent scores at least 17 points, which includes a 24-game losing streak, according to NFL Network.

With Darnold and the 2022 draft pick Matt Corralwho is out for the season with a Lisfranc injury, at IR, PJ Walker He is the only other active quarterback on the roster. panthers ahead of this week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Carolina is averaging just 262.3 yards per game, the fewest in the NFL. rhule focuses on how to improve that rather than replace Baker Mayfield.

“The quarterback always takes a little more blame than he deserves sometimes,” Rhule said. “Sometimes they don’t. … For me, right now, I’m in that process of saying, ‘Hey, what can we do to improve the offense overall?’ ”