Don’t get too excited, but UVA Football alum Bryce Perkins signed a camp deal with the Carolina Panthers, and should get significant time in Thursday’s preseason game with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Perkins is coming off a big spring in the UFL with the Michigan Panthers, where he earned MVP honors after completing 69 percent of his passes, throwing 14 TD passes against just three INTs, and putting up six rushing TDs.
Carolina is bringing Perkins in entirely because head coach Dave Canales made the decision to rest QB1 Bryce Young and the first-team offense for the Steelers game, and backup Andy Dalton injured his elbow in last week’s game with the Houston Texans, leaving third-stringer Jack Plummer the only healthy QB for the moment.
I wouldn’t expect Perkins, even with a big couple of quarters behind center, to supplant Plummer or Dalton on the depth chart, but the whirlwind week with the Panthers will give him a chance to put some things on tape against NFL players that could lead to another job later in the year.
“UFL was great, you know, there’s always some things like, OK, it’s the UFL, right, but there’s really great talent in the UFL, but kind of outside looking in, some people may think that. So, show the development of my game and the progression of how I’ve improved as a player since my last stint in the NFL, and put some good tape out there, and let it go,” Perkins told Panthers.com.
Perkins, who led UVA to the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl in 2019, was a backup with the Los Angeles Rams for three seasons, getting one career start, in Week 12 of the 2022 season, a 26-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, in which Perkins was 13-for-23 for 100 yards, a TD and two INTs, and put up 24 yards on nine carries on the ground.
At Virginia, Perkins passed for 6,218 yards in two seasons as the starter, completing 64.5 percent of his pass attempts, with 47 TDs and 21 INTs, and he gained 1,692 yards on the ground, with 20 rushing TDs.
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Chris Graham
