Panthers coach Matt Rhule addresses Cam Newton starting, potential staff changes
Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule said Monday that Cam Newton would almost certainly start Dec. 12 in the Panthers’ next game against Atlanta but added that everything about his team is currently “on the table,” including potential staff changes or re-assignments.
Rhule said he would use Carolina’s upcoming bye week to evaluate everything, including his 5-7 team’s disappointing 33-10 loss to Miami Sunday. In that game, Newton had a career-low quarterback rating and was benched in the fourth quarter in favor of backup P.J. Walker.
Rhule gave the Panther players the bye week off but held his normal press conference Monday.
“I think this is a week of true quality control and reflection,” Rhule said. “I asked the players to do the same thing while they’re away… To be completely honest with you, I’m not planning anything, but I wouldn’t take anything off the table right now in terms of roster-wise, the way we’re coaching things, anything like that.”
Rhule also said Monday morning:
▪ Running back Christian McCaffrey’s ankle re-injury initially didn’t appear to be serious and that postgame X-rays were negative.. McCaffrey, who has been plagued by injuries for the past two seasons, missed more than half the game.
“It didn’t look like a high ankle (sprain),” Rhule said.
However, an MRI revealed later Monday that McCaffrey’s ankle injury was season-ending. He will miss Carolina’s final five games of the season. That means that, since McCaffrey signed a contract extension in 2020 making him the highest-paid running back in NFL history, he will have played in only 10 games and missed 23 by the time the 2021 season is over.
▪ Defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 draft, didn’t start Sunday because he had played poorly the week before in Carolina’s loss to Washington, when the team gave up 190 rushing yards. Rhule said he made the decision himself based on Brown’s poor technique and play the week before.
“Sometimes when you’re a young player drafted high, you put a lot of pressure on yourself to get more sacks and have more production and you get away from the fundamentals,” Rhule said. The coach added that Brown played better Sunday and that he was “very excited about Derrick Brown’s future.”
▪ Both Newton and Walker may play Dec. 12.
“I would absolutely anticipate starting Cam,” Rhule said. “I would not say though, that that would mean that we wouldn’t play P.J. as well. And that’s no slight against Cam. I just think it’s keeping people off balance maybe. But I don’t know that yet.”
Rhule added that teams keep playing the same formula against the Panthers’ offense, one that is heavy on blitzes and daring Carolina to beat man-to-man pass coverage, and that the Panthers must figure out during the bye week how to counteract that.
