Panthers place Cam Newton on IR, ending his season
Cam Newton’s 2019 season is going to be a lost one. The Carolina Panthers announced on Tuesday that they’ve placed their quarterback on injured reserve, officially ending his season.
Panthers general manager Marty Hurney released a statement on the team’s website.
“For the past seven weeks, Cam has diligently followed a program of rest and rehab and still is experiencing pain in his foot. He saw two foot specialists last week who agreed that he should continue that path prescribed by the team’s medical staff, and that it likely will take significant time for the injury to fully heal.
“We have said all along that it is impossible to put a timetable on this injury. Nobody is more frustrated with that fact than Cam. He’s one of the fiercest competitors I’ve been around during my 20-plus years in the League. At this time, we have decided that the best decision to reach the goal of bringing the foot back to 100 percent is to place Cam on injured reserve.”
Newton, who turned 30 in May, has been sidelined for most of the season with a Lisfranc injury to his left foot. He played in Weeks 1 and 2, but hasn’t been on the field since, and hasn’t been able to practice with the team. Surgery wasn’t recommended so he wore a walking boot for several weeks, but the status of his injury didn’t change even after he shed the boot.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported last week that Newton has been frustrated with how slowly his injury was healing. He visited foot expert Dr. Robert Anderson on Friday to get more options on his recovery, and as Hurney said, the news wasn’t encouraging.
Kyle Allen has been starting in Newton’s place since Week 3. He’s 5-1 in the six games he has started, and while it hasn’t been the smoothest ride (Allen looked particularly bad in the Panthers’ Week 8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers), he’s been able to get the job done. That’s good for the Panthers since it looks like he’ll have that starting job for awhile.
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