Last month, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder, marking his second procedure on his right shoulder inside of two years.
However, Newton is already on the road to recovery, and Panthers head coach Ron Rivera likes what he is seeing:
“I was there on one of his recovery days when (Newton) was working out with (head athletic trainer) Ryan Vermillion,” Rivera said, according to Jourdan Rodrigue of The Charlotte Observer. ”And one of the things he did say was that he has gotten a lot of range of motion back. So that was exciting to hear.”
Rivera added that the surgery was as minimally invasive as possible and that the idea was to clear out scar tissue affecting Newton's range of motion.
Newton was shut down with two games remaining this past season due to shoulder issues that had been plaguing him throughout the second half of the year.
“He’d say that when he’d load up the throw, he’d feel a tug or a pull,” Rivera said. “So he knew something was wrong. But we didn’t know exactly what.”
Rivera became especially worried after the Panthers' Week 13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which Newton threw four interceptions.
“Everything came up just a touch short (on his throws). After that game, I really worried about him,” Rivera said. “But I’d come see him and talk to him the next day, and from the depths of despair he’d come back up and was so positive. And that’s him, that’s his personality.”
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