The Carolina Panthers are finally set to unleash Cam Newton this preseason. Panthers head coach Ron Rivera revealed Newton will play the team's third preseason game after the franchise quarterback missed the first two in his rehab from offseason shoulder surgery. Rivera told several media members that he would like to see Newton play "three or four good possessions" against the New England Patriots.
Newton's shoulder issues derailed the Panthers' promising start in 2018 as the team started 6-2 but lost seven straight games to miss the playoffs. At the center of the collapse was Newton, who completed 67.9 percent of his passes for 3,395 yards, 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a 94.2 passer rating. He also rushed for 488 yards and four touchdowns on the bad shoulder, which lingered throughout the season.
The surgery on the shoulder was Newton's second in two years, as he underwent surgery on a partially torn rotator cuff in 2017. Carolina has been taking things easy with Newton and his shoulder in training camp, as the Panthers quarterback is working on a new throwing motion to prevent the shoulder problems from reoccurring.
"Throwing small helps that, helps your technique," Newton said, via Brendan Marks of the Charlotte Observer. "You know, you go in the gym and start shooting 3s doesn't necessarily help your technique of shooting. The closer you are to the goal, that's in theory, the more short-intermediate passes that you can work on.
"Making sure your body transferring is (perfect), that's been my main focus. So now when you come out here and you've got (deep attempts like) nine routes, you've got big eights, I haven't been necessarily trying to perfect those things, but that'll come over time. When you've got the guys that we've got, you've just got to put it in the vicinity."
