Cam Newton spotted at practice without walking boot
The Carolina Panthers have the luxury of being able to wait until Cam Newton is fully healthy due to the way Kyle Allen has played in the former MVP’s absence, but it seems like Newton could be inching closer to a return.
Newton has been battling a foot injury that has forced him to miss the past three games, but Joe Person of The Athletic spotted him off to the side at practice on Tuesday not wearing a walking boot.
Cam Newton was not wearing a boot. Would imagine he will be working on the side today. Practice opens to the media in about 30 minutes.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 8, 2019
While Newton was still listed as having not practiced, that is certainly a positive sign. Newton originally suffered the foot injury during the preseason and re-aggravated it in Carolina’s Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he has basically been wearing a walking boot since. He opened up about the injury roughly a week ago and made it clear that he needs to be 100 percent healthy before returning, so the recovery timeline is still unclear.
The Panthers have gone 3-0 in the games Allen has played, and the former undrafted free agent has completely 66.7 percent of his passes with five touchdowns, no interceptions and a passer rating of 107.4 during that stretch. Carolina has a bye after facing the Bucs in London this week, so the earliest Newton would return is Week 8. If the Panthers keep winning and Allen continues to play well, it would not be a surprise to see them slow-play the situation.