Ron Rivera walks out of press conference over Cam Newton questions

The Carolina Panthers have yet to rule Cam Newton out of Sunday’s game with the foot injury he has been battling, but head coach Ron Rivera is already tired of being asked about the star quarterback’s status.

As expected, the majority of questions Rivera was asked at his press conference on Thursday pertained to Newton. When reporters didn’t respect his request to ask questions about players other than Newton, Rivera walked out of the room.

Ron Rivera, tired of Cam Newton questions, walks out of press conference after less than 2 1/2 minutes.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 19, 2019

Ron Rivera took seven questions, five related to Cam Newton.
He walked out after the fifth, saying calmly: "I just asked you to ask me questions about somebody else. I’m not gonna do this anymore, OK? I told you I won’t know anything until tomorrow."

— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 19, 2019

Rivera is probably frustrated that yet another Newton injury is dominating the headlines in Carolina, but you can understand the media dedicating most of their attention to it. Newton has been spotted in a walking boot this week after re-aggravating what has been reported as a mid-foot sprain. The severity is unknown, and Rivera said the team will have a better idea on Friday.

The Panthers had some horrendous 4th down calls in their loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, and it’s possible Newton’s health had something to do with that. These are not ideal conditions for Rivera to be coaching under, but he can’t fault the media for focusing on Newton’s latest injury.