CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Bryce Young admitted Thursday he was surprised when Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales benched him for Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders in favor of experienced Andy Dalton.

“As a participant, you obviously don’t dream about what’s going to happen,” Young said in his first interview since the decision on Monday. “It wasn’t necessarily something I expected. It wasn’t nice to hear that, of course.”

“It’s my job to put them in that situation.”

Young, who has a 2-16 record as a starter since the Panthers (0-2) made him the top pick of the 2023 draft, repeatedly took responsibility for the decision to bench him, a day after Canales said Young would start against the Raiders.

He never admitted he was crazy, although sources familiar with the situation said he was at first.

Young also avoided speculation about whether he has a future in Carolina, although Canales said Wednesday he still believes the former Alabama star could be a franchise quarterback in the NFL.

“I’m a day-to-day person,” Young said. “I’ve said that time and time again. The big picture is out of my hands. Those are organizational things that the people up there do. I’m super grateful to be part of the team, part of our organization. I want to help where I can.”

A source close to Young said the quarterback is “open to anything” regarding the possibility of staying with the Panthers until the end of his rookie contract or being traded to another team.

Canales said Wednesday that a transfer of Young is “not something we are considering.”

Young has spent the last two days leading the scout team. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said the 5-foot-10, 200-pound Young has played the role of Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew excellently.

“When you have a guy that can move and make plays on the move, sit in the pocket and make shots … He did a lot of good things against us in practice and he certainly makes us better,” Evero said.

Young said his goal is to help the team in any way he can, as the staff sees fit.

When asked if he had enough time to prove himself after his rookie season after head coach Frank Reich was fired following a 1-10 start and just two games into his second season under a new head coach, Young said that would be for others to decide.

But ultimately, he took responsibility for historically poor statistics, including a total QBR of 9.1 this season, which is among the worst in league history for consecutive games.

“I had a lot of plays last year and the first two games,” Young said. “For the most part, every snap hit my hands and I didn’t do enough. I take responsibility for that. There’s a long list of things I wish were better and I’m going to continue to work on them and grow and improve and get better at them.”

“Everyone has their own circumstances. If I had gone out there and played better and won games … and at the end of the day the responsibility was mine and that hadn’t happened … we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”