Newton was on the receiving end of four helmet-to-helmet hits in Thursday night’s physical 21-20 loss to Denver, but the Broncos were penalized only once.
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“There’s a little bit of prejudice to that, ” Rivera said Friday. It’s kind of like what happened to Shaquille O’Neal. “I know he’s the biggest guy on the field, but he’s still a quarterback”. Whether league officials want to go after them or not, fine. Rivera said. “There is a protocol”. The coach would like to see Newton, now in his sixth season, get some “veteran favoritism” from the league’s officials.
In the dying minutes of a thrilling game, with the MVP lying on the turf, here is what those responsible for Newton’s health did: Nothing. Newton got to his feet and stayed in the game.
Newton is expected to practice when the Panthers return to the field on Wednesday, the coach said.
“We wanted to make sure it got to him, so every time he ran, we wanted to put a helmet or shoulder pad on him, and if he’s not going to slide, then we’re really going to put something on you”, Ward admitted. I’m not one to call for the wuss-ification of the sport we all love, but enforcing the actual rules of the game equally isn’t asking for too much and Newton, in almost every game he’s in, does not get the calls his QB peers do.
“Some of them certainly should have drawn a flag”, Rivera said.
The NFL doesn’t disagree with Rivera.
There were offsetting penalties on the play: Newton was charged for intentional grounding and Stewart for roughing the passer. However, Newton was never removed from the game to check for a concussion after a Denver’s Darian Stewart delivered a shot to the head and left the ground.
Maybe Graham Gano’s missed 50-yarder in the final seconds that could have won the game for the Panthers wasn’t the best taste I could have hoped for, but it was definitely a better one. A penalty on fourth-and-21, however, kept the Carolina drive alive until Newton retreated to the sideline when Gano came in for the potential game-winner.
The NFL released a statement on Friday morning explaining that medical personnel and an unaffiliated doctor reviewed the play during the stoppage on the field and saw no signs that Newton was concussed.
Rivera didn’t see a need for his exit either.
“I was going to drill it, no double in my mind”, said Gano, who was wide left. There is a protocol. “The understanding is when everything first happened, they followed the protocol”. “It was nothing I could really do about that at that point”, Stewart said.
National Football League spokesman Brian McCarthy reiterated in his statement Sunday that this review “does not mean that we have seen any evidence that the protocol was applied improperly, but simply reflects our obligation to ensure the health and safety of our players”.
“We’ve talked about it ad nauseam. So that makes it tough”.
In a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos took on the Carolina Panthers. – Miller, who met him facemask-to-facemask early in the third quarter while DeMarcus Ware was dragging him down.
NOTES: The Panthers are now 1-5 all-time against the Broncos, with a 0-3 record in Denver.
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In metered-market results, NBC Sports coverage of the NFL Kickoff game featuring the Carolina Panthers at the Denver Broncos, averaged a 16.5 rating, 29 share in metered-market households from 8:45 p.m. -midnight ET.
