Cam Newton is dealing with a foot injury that kept him out of Sunday’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, and the star quarterback will be sitting at least another week.
The Carolina Panthers announced on Monday that Newton will not play in Week 4 against the Houston Texans. Head coach Ron Rivera said Newton’s foot injury needs more time to heal, and the team is not putting a date on his return.
“What Cam needs right now is time and rest for his foot. We want him at 100 percent when he’s ready, so there’s no exact timetable for his return,” Rivera said, via ESPN’s David Newton. “At this point, we’re going to go forward with Kyle (Allen) as our starter.”
Newton originally suffered the foot injury during the preseason, and he aggravated it during Carolina’s loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. There were reports that he would test out the foot prior to Wednesday’s practice to determine if he is ready to return, so the fact that he has already been ruled out is not a good sign.
The Panthers might also feel like they don’t have to rush Newton back after the way Kyle Allen played on Sunday. The former undrafted free agent completed 19-of-26 passes for 261 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in Carolina’s convincing 38-20 road win over the Cardinals. The offense looked far better with Allen on the field than it has with Newton, which proves that a hobbled Newton isn’t much good to the Panthers.
