Bryce Young earns respect of Tampa Bay Buccaneers despite 21-18 loss

Bowles wasn't the only member of Tampa Bay to praise Young. Some players also got in on the praise -- chief among them was Bucs safety Ryan Neal.

"I like that Bryce Young kid a lot,'' Neal told Ira Kaufman of Panthers.com. "A lot of people put him under a lot of fire, but you've got to remember he's a rookie. I know people like to compare him to C.J. Stroud, but that's not fair. It's a different team, different scheme, different system."

After a week that started with the dismissal of the Panthers' head coach, there were some positives to take away from the close loss to Tampa Bay. 

The rushing attack had more life. Chuba Hubbard became the first Panthers rusher to gain more than 100 yards during this season. Having a run game took some pressure off Young, though he didn't play necessarily well. 

It has been a dark season for the Panthers. And on a rainy Sunday afternoon game, Young having some positive words said about him during a difficult rookie season has to feel good for the rookie who has been thoroughly outplayed by the quarterback taken right after him. 

"I saw him as a star when I was looking at film all week,'' Bowles said. "He had 40-something sacks, but he escaped 60-something. He's very accurate given the time. It's just first-year quarterbacks; some do well with the people around them, some you have to get some help, and some just have to have growing pains."

Young has gone through his share of pains, and he would no doubt want to put his first year in the NFL behind him.