No Answer on Newton

 

Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera doesn’t often play the gamesmanship card through the media, but that may be what he had in mind Friday.

Even though it’s impossible to predict when quarterback Cam Newton will return, the fact that he’s now missed three practices this week is a pretty good sign he won’t play Monday night against the Bucs. Regardless, Rivera wasn’t yet ready to rule out his starter when asked if all signs pointed toward a Derek Anderson spot start.

“(Newton) had a good day in the protocol so we'll see what that means tomorrow,” Rivera said.

“He's in the protocol, he had a good day in the protocol and that's about all I know.”

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Other Injuries

 

Besides Newton, the rest of Friday’s full injury report looked like this:

 

Did not practice

 

RB Jonathan Stewart (hamstring), LT Michael Oher (concussion), DT Vernon Butler (ankle), CB James Bradberry (toe)

 

Limited

 

RB Mike Tolbert (hamstring), DE Charles Johnson (quad), LB Thomas Davis (hamstring)

 

Full

 

WR Devin Funchess (toe), Ted Ginn Jr. (foot), C Ryan Kalil (knee), OT Mike Remmers (shoulder), DT Star Lotulelei (shoulder)

 

Bradberry essentially ruled himself out when he talked to reporters, while Davis wasn’t as assuring as you’d expect.

“If I'm not ready to go, I'm not ready to go,” he said when asked if he’d play even if he wasn’t 100 percent. “I'm not going to be selfish like that and do that to this football team. You're only allowed to dress so many guys, and you don't want to have a guy who's going to be out there for a series or quarter. You need somebody's that going to be able to play the whole game and that'll be the only way I'll dress out — if I'm able to play the whole game.”

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Meanwhile, in Tampa Bay

 

Need something to make you feel better? The Bucs’ will likely be missing two of their most important defensive linemen and their top two RBs.

 

Did not practice:

 

DE Robert Ayers (ankle), RB Doug Martin (hamstring), DT Gerald McCoy (calf), DT Clinton McDonald (hamstring), WR Cecil Shorts (hamstring), RB Charles Sims (knee), DE Noah Spence (shoulder)

 

Limited:

 

CB Brent Grimes (hamstring), TE Brandon Myers (hip), C Evan Smith (back), TE Luke Stocker (ankle), S Keith Tandy (calf)

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When One Door Closes

 

Bené Benwikere’s surprise release blew out any other Panthers-related storylines Friday. Benwikere’s bad day opened the door for fifth-round pick Zack Sanchez, who just over a month ago was the highest draft pick released in the Dave Gettleman era.

This spring and summer, the Panthers saw Sanchez as a nickel. Now, he’s earmarked for the outside.

“We're looking to play Zack and give him an opportunity to play the corner position,” Rivera said. He'll play as an emergency nickel if something were to happen, but Robert McClain will move inside and play the nickel like he has for us.”

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NFL Being the NFL

 

There isn’t much to say that hasn’t already been said about what the league truly cares about these days.

G Trai Turner was fined $24,309 for verbal abuse toward an official for what was likely verbal abuse toward an official:

So follow along here:

• Turner was fined $9,115 after he was penalized for taunting in Week One.
• He was flagged for taunting Sunday, even though he obviously wasn’t taunting an opponent. If he had, he would have been fined $12,154.
• Because he was later dinged for verbal abuse toward an official, it counts as a second finable offense, which equals 24k.

 

So Turner could have saved himself 12 grand if he went off on a Falcon instead of yelling at an official after QB Cam Newton took another hit to the head.

Oh, and Newton was fined $9,115 for flipping the ball toward Falcons LB Deion Jones.

Yay, NFL?!

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When It Rains

 

It rarely rains during a Panthers’ practice, but it was a wet start to Friday’s practice.

Did they even consider heading to their indoor home at the Charlotte Convention Center?

“No. We were going to practice outside in the elements,” Rivera said. “I know they're predicting good weather for Monday, but you never know. They're talking about a loop de loop and who knows it could be right back on our doorstep. So we practice in the elements. We don't have an indoor facility for the most part, so this has always been our mentality — we go out and practice.”