The Carolina Panthers have come under scrutiny for their handling of quarterback Cam Newton’s apparent head injury in their playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints. The NFL has already begun investigating whether they broke the league’s concussion protocol.
But according to Joseph Person and Anna Douglas of the Charlotte Observer, the Panthers have admitted that Newton was merely embellishing what was a poke in the eye in order to buy more time for backup Derek Anderson to warm up.
“He took a hit. But when he walked off and he told the trainers he got poked in the eye, then they did take him into the tent and checked him for a concussion, which he did not have,” Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said.
“And it was really getting poked in the eye. He took a knee because they told him to take a knee so we could get the official timeout and Derek could warm up.”
While it’s virtually unheard of for a team basically own up to the fact that they were taking part in some gamesmanship (even though it likely occurs in a good number of games), it’s not hard to see the Panthers’ thought process in this situation. Milking a minor injury is a bad look for them, but it’s not nearly as bad as failing to thoroughly examine their quarterback after an apparent head injury.
But even if the Panthers are telling the truth and Newton didn’t have a head injury, it still doesn’t excuse the fact that they broke protocol by not getting Newton to the locker room to have him “checked out.” It would set a bad precedent for the Panthers not to be punished for their actions, so it won't be a surprise if the NFL decides to come down on them to prevent more of those kinds of incidents from happening.
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