Ron Rivera expects Cam Newton to be ready for Week 1

Upcoming shoulder surgery has cast doubt about the Week 1 status of Cam Newton, but his head coach has no such concerns.

Over the final few games of last season, Carolina Panther quarterback Cam Newton was clearly operating at less than 100 percent with a right shoulder injury. Sitting him during inconsequential games was apparently not an option, and all indications were rest and rehab would be all Newton needed this offseason.

But Newton will undergo shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff on March 30, with a 12-week timetable to start throwing lightly and another four weeks on top of that before he would throw with the team. The latter timeframe bumps up to the start of training camp, assuming surgery goes as expected and no recovery setbacks.

As he arrived in Phoenix for this week’s Annual League Meeting, Panthers’ head coach Ron Rivera was asked about Newton’s status. Suffice to say, Rivera is not too concerned about his quarterback’s availability for the start of the season.

"“Without a doubt,” Rivera said of his confidence in Newton being ready for the season opener, to NFL Network’s Judy Battista at the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. “There is no concern, at least in talking with the trainers and doctors. I’m very confident that things are going to go along very well. They have a timeframe that they’ve mapped out for the most part. He’ll be working with the trainers and he’ll be working with us for the most part during the OTAs and minicamps.”"

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Rivera, or anyone else attached to the Panthers, will only convey optimism about Newton. The medical reasoning for not doing surgery right away and then switching course is questionable, though everyone with the team is saying the right things publicly. But there still could (should?) be a healthy amount of concern in the Panthers’ building, and it may remain right up until Newton plays in a game with a surgically-repaired throwing shoulder.