NFL Network analyst and 49ers coach Steve Mariucci is on the league’s safety advisory committee and said he expected the hits on Newton to be addressed at a scheduled meeting next week.
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His father, however, has his concerns.
With the game stopped for more than two minutes while officials sorted out offsetting penalties – Stewart’s roughing the passer flag was negated by an intentional grounding call against Newton – Anderson said there was no reason for Newton to be in a hurry to get up.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton wasn’t in the mood on Wednesday to talk about helmet-to-helmet hits, fines, the concussion protocol or anything that had to do with last week’s 21-20 loss to Denver.
Despite the well-publicized effects of repeated concussions to National Football League players, Newton said his focus is exclusively on winning games – next against the 49ers on Sunday.
“My job is not to lobby for my health”, Newton added.
“On the referees’ side, I can’t worry about that”, Newton said. I’m not here to worry about workers comp. My focus is trying to win football games through all of the hits and everything else.
“Winning football games. That’s why I’m here”, Newton reminds. It will be interesting to see if game officials take a different approach to how they call close or questionable hits on Newton. But that’s understandable. Sometimes I’ve been hit and they have been called. Newton said Wednesday he felt “great” and didn’t want to dwell on the hits.
Reid also said that quarterback Alex Smith, who had a noticeable bump on his elbow after Sunday’s game, is doing fine.
Newton was sacked three times and clobbered all night long but appeared to have done just enough to get a measure of revenge for that bludgeoning seven months earlier in Super Bowl 50, when Von Miller stripped the ball and the Lombardi Trophy from his grasp. Safety Darian Stewart’s helmet-to-helmet hit in the fourth quarter was probably the worst of the bunch. “I gain nothing from talking about the past”. “It’s a contact sport and we have to plan accordingly to get back to 100 percent”.
National Football League officials says they will spend an additional $100 million to develop technology and support more medical research into the problem of head injuries. It was no wooziness and guys kind of stumbled and I see where it affects their play afterward. If only.’ But there’s no need to keep dwelling on the past because we have an opportunity to change it.
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Coach Ron Rivera said that Newton has passed all of the concussion tests the team’s medical staff has administered since he took the shots to the head.
