CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney says Cam Newton has a mid-foot sprain and he’s “cautiously optimistic” the quarterback will be ready for the Sept. 8 regular season opener against the Los Angeles Rams.
Newton injured his left foot in Carolina’s 10-3 preseason loss Thursday night at New England.
Newton was trying to avoid a sack in the first quarter when he got tripped up and landed on the turf. He hobbled to the sideline and grimaced in pain on the bench before walking under his own power to the locker room.
The 2015 league MVP was in 11 plays and three series when the Panthers gained just 29 yards. He was sacked twice.
Newton left the stadium in a walking boot and didn’t address the media before boarding the team bus.
PACKERS-RAIDERS: The premier of Manitoba says there’s a “lot of disappointment” from the Packers-Raiders exhibition game that was played on an 80-yard field because of safety concerns at Winnipeg on Thursday night.
Brian Pallister acknowledged during a campaign stop Friday that it “didn’t work out the way they wanted.” But he added that “organizers tried to do something that hadn’t been done before, so let’s give them respect and credit for trying.”
The game was played on a shortened field because of the turf in the end zones. The league also eliminated kickoffs.
Oakland defeated Green Bay 22-21 on a field goal by Daniel Carlson with 8 seconds left. The Packers did not dress 33 players, including Aaron Rodgers. The Raiders withheld most starters, including quarterback Derek Carr and receiver Antonio Brown.
Attendance was 21,992 at 33,000-seat IG Field. Canadian-based On Ice Entertainment Ltd. was the promoter.
This was the first NFL game in Canada since the Buffalo Bills completed a series of games in Toronto in 2013.
SEAHAWKS: Wide receiver David Moore will miss the start of the regular season after suffering a shoulder injury in practice.
Coach Pete Carroll said the team is still figuring out the extent of the injury. But Carroll said he does not expect Moore to be available for Week 1 against Cincinnati. Moore suffered the injury during Thursday’s practice.
PATRIOTS: It’s settled: Tom Seaver is “Tom Terrific,” not Tom Brady.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Brady’s application to take control of the nickname on Thursday, ruling that it “points uniquely and unmistakably to Tom Seaver.”
It adds that giving Brady a trademark for “Tom Terrific” might lead people to conclude the Hall of Fame pitcher endorses any products, rather than the New England Patriots quarterback.
Brady has said he doesn’t even like the nickname and was just trying to trademark it to keep others from using it without his permission. But Seaver fans accused Brady of trying to appropriate their hero’s identity.
DOLPHINS: Coach Brian Flores says he supports the NFL player protest movement and receiver Kenny Stills’ involvement, but wants him to play better.
“Everything these guys protest, I’ve lived it, I’ve experienced it,” said an impassioned Flores, who is the son of immigrants from Honduras. “They’re bringing attention to my story. I’m a son of immigrants. I’m black. I grew up poor. I’ve been stopped because I fit the description.”
Flores’ comments came late Thursday following Miami’s exhibition win over Jacksonville. The subject arose because Stills objected Monday to recent remarks from Jay-Z about social activism by current and former NFL players, and the next day the Dolphins played more than half a dozen songs by the rapper at the start of practice.
Flores, who chooses the songs for practice, said he was trying to motivate Stills.
“I walked up to Kenny in front of the entire group and said, `This is a challenge to you to get over it and catch the football. Make plays for this team, regardless of what’s going on outside of this building,”‘ Flores said. “It was a challenge to Kenny to perform regardless of what’s going on outside. He hasn’t performed to that level over the course of this training camp.”
Stills’ reaction to the Jay-Z medley?
“It was just music,” Stills said. The veteran receiver is outspoken on social issues, and has been kneeling during the national anthem for the past four seasons to protest racial inequality and police brutality.
“I’ve been dealing with this since 2016 – music, boos, racial slurs – so I don’t think a little bit of Jay-Z is going to ruffle my feathers that bad,” Stills said.
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