It’s painfully obvious that Matt Corral is the third wheel in the Carolina Panthers’ quarterback room—which made Monday’s press conference a tad, well, painful.
The second-year passer spoke with reporters after this week’s opening installment of organized team activities. He was asked about his cryptic (or not-so-cryptic) Instagram story on the very night the Panthers selected Bryce Young with the 2023 NFL draft’s No. 1 overall pick.
Corral claimed the post was not about the organization’s choice, but rather a personal matter unrelated to the game.
“The post on draft night had nothing to do with football,” he said with a smile. “It had zero to do with football. Me and [Frank] Reich had that conversation and, like he said, that’s gonna be between us. But, it was a good conversation. There’s still stuff I’m figuring out outside of football. But it’s nothing but positive things and I’m learning and growing every single day.”
In terms of the stuff that has to do with football, the 24-year-old has undergone a pretty rough nine or so months. On top of sustaining a Lisfranc injury that halted his rookie campaign, Corral has watched the regime who traded up for him ousted for one who traded up for the new guy.
Nonetheless, the former third-round pick doesn’t want to leave Carolina.
“Me, personally—if it was up to me, I don’t wanna get traded.
“I love the people here, I love the people that I’m around. I wanna play for Coach Reich. I really like the coaches that we have around us.”