“There’s too much going through my head right now for me to remember what happened“. He went 7 for 15 the rest of the game after starting 11 for 18 and leading the Panthers to a 17-7 halftime lead.
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After Gano’s 36-yard field goal brought the Panthers to 21-20, Carolina forced a three-and-out and the Panthers got the ball back at their 40 with 3:06 remaining. They need to rally around eachother after such a rough loss.
Stewart said he thought he’d delivered a clean hit.
Newton stayed in after all four hits. But often times on Thursday night, that line was blurred. “But it’s not fun getting hit in the head”.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said the team followed the concussion protocol: “I’m not going to question the doctors, okay?”
The NFL needs to get better at both the calls on the field and their concussion protocol. Nothing was easy for the NFL’s reigning MVP.
We’ve already seen the league go above and beyond to protect other veteran quarterbacks. Net result of those hits: Zero penalty yards. I’m always thinking he’s running it with a player like that. It bothers his teammates and it should bother everybody.
“It was a very physical game”, Newton said. “… Because he’s a big guy, they think he can take it”. Newton finished the game 18 of 33 for 194 yards, and Benjamin caught six passes for 91 yards. It’s there that the Broncos decided to make Newton pay a toll for his talents and ability. “But if the flag is not called, then it’s OK”, Newton said. “He’s the quarterback and you can’t account for that on defense”. They made the plays when it counted most.
“So it does hurt, ” Rivera said.
The league said Sunday that it wants to ensure the concussion protocol is being uniformly applied across all 32 teams..
Perhaps most egregious is the lack of attention Newton’s own team paid to the issue. But there are a few things. Third down was awful, the offense was giving the ball away-we just knew we had to come in and play our game… In fact, a lot of them came when he was in the pocket, having just released a throw. P Andy Lee, who came over in a trade from Cleveland late last month, booted a Panthers’ record 76-yard punt in the third quarter. “You have to hit him”. To many unforced errors on there part. “Games like this, we look forward to”. Again, I really don’t know. “It’s not my job to question the officials”, Newton said according to USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Pelissero.
“He gets hit multiple times, and you throw your hands up in the air and say ‘What are these guys looking at?'” He lowered his head at the last moment. “They concluded there were no indications of a concussion that would require further evaluation and the removal of the player”. “The quarterback is such a great player and there’s so many designed runs for him and you’ve got to tackle him like a back”. We’ve seen him limp throughout the game. “He’s the quarterback and you can’t account for that on defense”.
The good news for the Broncos is they have 10 days to get all of that corrected before facing the Indianapolis Colts.
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The league should be watching out for all its players, even those who seem big enough and strong enough to take care of themselves.
