Carolina quarterback Cam Newton hadn’t taken a day off from practice in his five-plus seasons with the Panthers. So it was curious when he sat out of passing drills during the portion of Wednesday’s practice open to the media.

According to a source, Newton was sent for an MRI on Tuesday after complaining of soreness in his throwing shoulder, but he’s still expected to start in Washington.

“It’s nothing to be scared about,” a coy Newton said when asked why he didn’t do much at practice.

Coach Ron Rivera said Newton did some individual work and downplayed his quarterback’s first career ‘rest day.’

“Every now and then you’ve got to do that for him because he doesn’t take any breaks unless he has to,” Rivera said. “It was just one of those things he wanted to get out there and work, so we limited him trying to get him to take a little bit off.

“He’s a mentally tough guy. Some guys look at rest days as it shows you can’t take it. That’s his mentality. He’s tough-minded. He wants to be out there. He wants to show his teammates that he wants to be out there. So today was a little bit tough on him.”

Because they play on Monday night, the Panthers didn’t have to release an injury report Wednesday.

Like last week, linebacker Luke Kuechly practiced, but he remains in the concussion protocol.

Linebacker David Mayo, who sat out last week with a concussion, was back on the field while defensive end Charles Johnson (hamstring) and offensive tackle Daryl Williams (ankle) worked on the side.

Running back Jonathan Stewart stayed inside for his mid-week rest day.