CHARLOTTE — While recent results have obviously not reflected what the Panthers were hoping for when they brought quarterback Cam Newton back, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said Monday he had nothing but respect for the veteran quarterback.
While Rhule didn’t get into specifics about their plans at the position for this week’s game against the Buccaneers, he did soften some of Sunday’s criticism of a fourth-down decision by Newton in the first quarter, and explained at length why he has so much admiration for the 32-year-old quarterback.
“I have absolutely respected, appreciated, and loved every second that Cam’s been here,” Rhule began. “He works as hard as someone could work. All he ever says to me is, hey, keep coaching me. He wants accountability. He wants to help the team win. So I’ve enjoyed every second of having him here, and I’m looking forward to seeing him today. He and I usually sit down each Tuesday, one-on-one for an hour or so, and just talk. I’ve learned so much from him. I hate that we haven’t been able to get a win for him while he was here. I thought he played well enough in the Washington game for us to win, I thought defensively we didn’t quite play well enough in that game.
“But I do know that Cam lays it on the line every time he goes out there. And I do know that Cam prepares at a high level every week. And you can learn a lot about somebody, and their true character. For everything people might think they know about Cam Newton, you can learn a lot about who he is as a person, as a man, as a competitor these last four games. There hasn’t been one moment, hasn’t been one moment where he’s been pointing a finger at someone else. Not one moment where he doesn’t say to me, hey coach me, get after me. The 0-4 (as a starter this year) or whatever, I’m just worried about this week, and I’d love for us to get a win against a great Buccaneers team this week, and we’ll go back to the process of coming up with a plan and executing the plan.
“But make no mistake, this guy is the ultimate competitor. I just hate that we couldn’t score more points and win the game. But I’ll always look at myself first before I look at anyone else. I think he’s a real guy.”
Rhule said that, in general, they wanted to “keep building off the good things” Newton was doing, and they’d continue to evaluate the other quarterbacks. Newton has remained a force in the run game, but has struggled since the Washington game, going from a 120.5 passer rating that day to a combined 46.0 rating over the next three.
That has left all options on the table. They’re awaiting tests today on Sam Darnold’s shoulder to see if he’s cleared for contact, and Rhule said that if Darnold was ready, they’d practice him this week.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to shake some of the rust off him and see where he’s at in the process,” Rhule said of Darnold. “I can’t say who will be the full-time guy this week until I have more information.”
— Rhule said he was also still waiting on word from the team’s doctors on kicker Zane Gonzalez’s MRI from Monday morning, but he began with the assumption the injury was serious.
He said general manager Scott Fitterer was lining up workouts for kickers as he spoke, and that there were a number of possibilities for the position, including adding one to the active roster and one to the practice squad so they’d have cover there.
Gonzalez suffered a right quad injury in pre-game warmups Sunday and wasn’t able to kick against the Bills, forcing them to go for fourth-and-goals and have wide receiver Brandon Zylstra kick off.
— Rhule didn’t have the particulars of the medical statuses of players when he spoke to reporters, but his hope was that A.J. Bouye could try to practice this week. He said the reason they didn’t put the veteran corner on IR was in hopes of getting him back on the field this season.
— Rhule mentioned wanting to evaluate younger players as he could, though not at the expense of trying to win games. He mentioned a number of guys who played Sunday, and when asked specifically about rookie offensive lineman Brady Christensen, said there was a “possibility” he could play a role this week against the Bucs.
1 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
2 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
3 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
4 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
5 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
6 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
7 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
8 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
9 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
10 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
11 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
12 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
13 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
14 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
15 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
16 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
17 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
18 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
19 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
20 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
21 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
22 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
23 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
24 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
25 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
26 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
27 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
28 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
29 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
30 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
31 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
32 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
33 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
34 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
35 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
36 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
37 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
38 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
39 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
40 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
41 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
42 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
43 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
44 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
45 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
46 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
47 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
48 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
49 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
50 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
51 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
52 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
53 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
54 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
55 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
56 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
57 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
58 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
59 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
60 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
61 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
62 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
63 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
64 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
65 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
66 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
67 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
68 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
69 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
70 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
71 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
72 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
73 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
74 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
75 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
76 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
77 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
78 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
79 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
80 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
81 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
82 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
83 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
84 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
85 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
86 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
87 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
88 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
89 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
90 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
91 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
92 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
93 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
94 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
95 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
96 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
97 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
98 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
99 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
100 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
101 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
102 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
103 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
104 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
105 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
106 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
107 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
108 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
109 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
110 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
111 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker/Carolina Panthers
112 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
113 / 113
Chanelle Smith-Walker
https://www.panthers.com/news/the-day-after-respect-for-ultimate-competitor-cam-newton
