Delhomme ‘frustrated,’ but will remain starter
Published: September 13th, 2009 | Tags: Carolina Panthers, Jake Delhomme, John Fox, Josh McCown, Matt Moore
It was not a good day for Panthers QB Jake Delhomme in Sunday’s 38-10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Not by any measure. Delhomme committed five turnovers, with four interceptions and a lost fumble, and was under constant pressure from the Eagles. He finished 7 of 17 passing for 79 yards before being pulled in favor of backup Josh McCown in the third quarter.
When asked who will be his starter next week, coach John Fox said he will stick with Delhomme.
“Obviously, I think we start back with Jake,” Fox said. “We’ve got to go back and evaluate what happened to us. Without watching the tape, I don’t think it was all Jake’s fault.”
Delhomme’s performance against the Eagles was his first meaningful action since committing six turnovers in a 33-13 divisional playoff loss to the Cardinals last season. Fox said he isn’t concerned about Delhomme’s confidence after 11 turnovers in his last two regular season games.
Delhomme didn’t duck his postgame news conference, saying he wasn’t surprised that he was pulled. He said he hoped to remain the starter, and didn’t want to take the “easy way out” by watching from the sidlines.
“No, I mean, I wasn’t getting anything going for us,” Delhomme said. “It was frustrating. It started on the first drive, and it went downhill from there. … I’m not blaming anyone. It just wasn’t good.”
It may turn out Fox doesn’t have many options even if he did want to replace Delhomme. McCown played just two series before he was injured while being sacked. Fox said McCown suffered a sprained knee and foot, but didn’t have any other update on the injury. Matt Moore relieved McCown, completing 6 of 11 passes for 63 yards and one interception during the final three series.