The Panthers are still waiting for Cam Newton to get final clearance through the concussion protocol, though he was a full participant in practice yesterday.
But once he’s back on the field, they don’t plan on putting any reins on him.
Newton hasn’t exactly protected himself on the field, and the Panthers said they’re not going to try to alter what he does for the sake of preserving the reigning MVP.
“That’s his game,” offensive coordinator Mike Shula said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. “We’ll look at it and we’ll talk about it, but part of his game and what makes him so good is that.”
After he took a shot to the head two weeks ago in Atlanta, he was criticized for a nonchalant approach to the goal line on a two-point conversion run. But people have been telling Newton to protect himself better on the field since he entered the league, so calls for self-preservation are hardly new.
“We’ll play our offensive accordingly,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said when asked about Newton’s status. “Depends on the situations, circumstances, calls, plays, reads. The quarterback’s going to play the game the way he plays the game. That’s one thing about Cam Newton. We can call a play and he can drop back and take off running on his own.
“So we’re going to play our offense accordingly.”
Since that’s what he’s best at, the hesitance to change is natural. But after playing (poorly) without him last week, they’ve seen the consequence of his not being prudent, but that’s something he’s going to have to arrive at on his own.
