Ron Rivera Walks Out of Press Conference After Cam Newton Injury Questions
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera wants to talk about something other than quarterback Cam Newton's foot injury.
Newton missed practice on Thursday for the third consecutive day while battling a mid-foot sprain he suffered in the preseason. The signal-caller appeared to aggravate the injury in Carolina's Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers.
Rivera told reporters that Newton received treatment on Thursday and the team will "have more clarity" on Friday about Newton's ability to start in Week 3 against the Cardinals. The coach said backup quarterback Kyle Allen is preparing for now like he will be Carolina's starter in Arizona.
After fielding several questions about Newton, Rivera asked the reporters at his press conference to move on to a different topic.
"I'm not going to talk about it any more guys. Let's talk about Arizona," he said. "I haven't really talked about Arizona, so it'd be good to answer those kinds of questions."
When a reporter brought up Newton in the next question, Rivera responded: "I won't know any more until tomorrow so let's talk about Arizona. If not, there's no reason for me to stand here."
Rivera walked away from the podium and reinforced that he will not have any updates on Newton before Friday before exiting the room.
Newton and the Panthers have struggled to begin 2019. The former No. 1 pick is averaging a career-low 6.4 yards per attempt while failing to throw a touchdown pass in either of Carolina's first two games. Sunday could possibly be a reunion of sorts for Allen, who battled Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray for the starting role at Texas A&M in 2015.
The Cardinals will host the Panthers at University of Phoenix Stadium on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 4:05 p.m. ET. Carolina enters the Week 3 matchup last in the NFC South at 0–2.
