Carolina Panthers star Sam Darnold made headlines on Sunday after he was subbed out in the fourth quarter amid an embarrassing blowout courtesy of the New York Giants. The game was already beyond them when Panthers head coach Matt Rhule pulled Darnold out of the game, but at this point, there have been whispers of the 24-year-old potentially losing his starting spot for Carolina.

After the game, Darnold opened up about what the benching meant to him and it seems that the Panthers star isn't too worried about this recent development:

“No. It's hard no matter where you are,” he said as he downplayed the late-game substitution, via Darlin Gantt of Panthers.com. “As a competitor, you want to go out there and give 100 percent for your teammates and for the guys next to you.”

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Darnold managed just 111 yards with one interception before he was replaced by backup P.J. Walker. For his part, however, Rhule made it abundantly clear that this move does not mean that Darnold will be losing his QB1 spot for the Panthers:

“The last thing I want to do is embarrass somebody,” Rhule said. “Because I know this is going to be the story this week. But I believe sometimes, if you go back to the old days before all the pressure, quarterbacks would have to sit for a little bit. Sam will define who he is. This is up to him. But we wanted to get something going. . . .

“Sam will be the quarterback. I just wanted to get something going today.”

It's easy to overreact after Sunday's developments, especially considering how the Panthers ended up losing 25-3 to the Giants. The fact that Carolina has now dropped four games in a row after a 3-0 start to the campaign only makes matters worse. Nevertheless, Darnold still remains to be the Panthers' starting quarterback — for now at least.