Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s surgery on left foot “successful”
There’s been a lot of talk this week about Cam Newton’s future
Despite all the questions about his health, there are certain things we know.
Newton had “successful” surgery Monday on his left foot for a Lisfranc injury that he suffered against the New England Patriots during the Panthers’ third preseason game.
“Everything looked good from that standpoint,” interim head coach Perry Fewell said.
Newton is currently resting in Atlanta, his hometown.
He will now start the recovery process, which from this type of surgery, can take anywhere from 6-8 weeks or longer depending on the injury as detailed by Dr. Robert Anderson, the Panthers former assistant team physician and renowned foot specialist, for NFL.com. The procedure was performed in New York by Dr. Martin O’Malley, according to multiple reports, who has done surgery on numerous high profile athletes, including foot surgeries on NBA stars Kevin Durant and Kevin Love.
With Newton now having had surgery, the Panthers will have a clearer timetable for getting answers on the quarterback’s health prior to the time that significant offseason decisions need to be made, including April’s NFL draft. The team has gone 5-6 in his absence and his shoulder injury last year played a significant role in the team losing seven straight games after a 6-2 start.
The 30-year old has missed more games this season than in his previous eight years combined (five games previously). He has one year remaining on his contract and will count for about $21 million against the 2020 salary cap.
There has been a lot of recent speculation about Newton’s future in Carolina, and whether or not the Panthers will try to trade him. But the overall biggest question will always be the quarterback’s health
During former coach Ron Rivera’s final press conference, he said he hopes Newton gets out of the rut of rehabbing and dealing with injuries.
“His return to health without a doubt, I think that’s the most important thing for the young man,” Rivera said. “You know the frustration is, and we all saw it with Andrew Luck, was always being hurt, always rehabbing.”
Panthers owner David Tepper has spoken on Newton’s health as well, saying last week “hopefully Cam’s healthy, I frankly don’t know and neither does Cam.” Tepper has said in an ideal world Newton is able to get healthy and on the team next year.
How he recovers from the surgery will go a long way in determining the Panthers’ next step with their franchise quarterback.
Chris Hogan on path to return
The Panthers designated wide receiver Chris Hogan for return Wednesday after he was placed on injured reserve following the team’s Week 4 win in Houston. The injury occurred on a special teams play against the Texans. He had arthroscopic knee surgery with no ligament injury and a bone bruise.
Hogan said the rehab was a frustrating process and that it took longer than he expected.
“A lot of ups, a lot of downs,” Hogan said of the time on injured reserve. “It was awesome to be back out there playing and practicing (today), running around. You take for granted being out there and running without pain and just being out there with the guys you’ve been working with since the offseason.”
Hogan is eligible to come back at any point during the remainder of the season. It is unclear yet when or if the wide receiver will be added back to the active roster.
“We’re excited that he could be back on the field,” Fewell said. “We’ll evaluate him day-to-day, we’ll see how sore he is tomorrow, the trainers will engage with us about his progress as far as that’s concerned, but it’s good to have him back out there.”
While there are just three games left and the Panthers are out of playoff contention, Fewell said there is value in bringing a player like Hogan back.
“Obviously Chris has championship-caliber play in his blood,” Fewell said. “From our perspective, if he can help us win a game, that’s the value.”
Other Panthers’ notes:
Tight end Greg Olsen is still in concussion protocol, but was able to practice some Wednesday. Olsen suffered the injury in the team’s Week 13 loss to Washington and missed last week vs. Atlanta. “It was fun to see him back out there, he had fun being back out there, but he’s still in protocol, so it’s day-to-day,” Fewell said. “But it was good to see him back out there.”
LB Ramik Wilson was signed to the active roster and WR Bobo Wilson was added to the practice squad. Ramik Wilson is in his fifth season and played one game with Arizona this year. Bobo Wilson spent his first three years on and off the Tampa Bay roster
Carolina waived WR/KR Greg Dortch on Tuesday after he fumbled a kick return vs. the Falcons. It was the second time this season that Dortch has been waived by the Panthers. He spent time on the practice squad in between being on the active roster.
In terms of who will be returning kicks going forward, there are a number of different options that the Panthers will be looking at going forward, including Mike Davis and Brandon Zylstra. DJ Moore and DeAndrew White had been performing return responsibilities recently, but the position has been a revolving door for Carolina this season.
“It’s unfortunate with Greg, we had to do what we had to do from that standpoint,” Fewell said. “We’re going to look at several players as kick returners, and several players as punt returners. … We’re going to evaluate these guys this week, we feel like we have several guys on the team who are capable of doing that”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 6:14 PM with the headline "Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s surgery on left foot “successful”."
