Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Rivera tired of talking about Newton’s status
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers have yet to make an official decision on Cam Newton’s status for this weekend, and coach Ron Rivera indicated by word and deed Friday that he’s tired of talking about it.
Newton missed his third consecutive day of practice on Thursday, a week after he re-injured his left foot in the team’s loss to Tampa Bay. Newton first sustained that left foot sprain in Week 3 of the preseason, and he missed about a week’s worth of practices as a result.
If Newton is unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals, then second-year passer Kyle Allen would start in his place. But Coach Ron Rivera said Thursday he wasn’t ready to name a starter.
“Nope. Cam was in meetings today. He was inside for treatment,” Rivera said. “Kyle’s preparing as if he’s going to start, and we’ll have more clarity tomorrow.
“Tomorrow we should have a good feel for where he is, and we’ll go forward from there.”
While Newton was not at practice Thursday, he was briefly spotted in the team’s locker room with a boot on his left foot. Newton has been in that boot since Tuesday.
When questions about Newton persisted in Rivera’s daily press conference, the coach asked politely for any additional questions about anything besides Newton.
“I’m not going to talk about it anymore, guys,” Rivera said. “I mean, let’s talk about Arizona. I mean, haven’t really talked about Arizona, so it would be good to answer those kind of questions.”
Questions about Newton persisted,
Notes
Panthers QB Kyle Allen, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray and Cardinals WR Christian Kirk spent one season together at Texas A&M in 2015. Allen and Murray eventually transferred . ... Luke Kuechly leads Panthers’ defense with 25 tackles. Had 17 tackles in Week 2, including two tackles for loss, one that resulted in safety ... Carolina’s Greg Olsen had 110 yards receiving in Week 2. He has 7,993 career receiving yards, fifth place among tight ends. He is also top 10 in catches and receiving TDs. ... Carolina rookie K Joey Slye made four field goals in Week 2, including two from 50-plus yards . ... Murray is second QB to throw for at least 300 yards in first two career games. Other was Carolina’s Cam Newton. Newton threw for more than 400 in both of his first two games ... Kirk had 114 yards receiving vs. Ravens for first career 100-yard receiving game . ... Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald needs 10 catches to pass Hall of Fame TE Tony Gonzalez for second on NFL’s all-time receptions list. Fitzgerald has 1,316, Gonzalez has 1,325. Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is all-time leader with 1,549 . ... Arizona has 12 rookies on active roster, which leads NFL. Five have started at least one game. Fantasy tip: RB Christian McCaffrey could be in line for big afternoon. leading to Rivera calmly walking out of his press conference. The entire session lasted just two minutes and 15 seconds.
“I just asked you to ask me questions about somebody else,” he said on his way out. “I’m not gonna do this anymore, OK? I told you, I won’t know anything until tomorrow. OK? Thank you.”