Ron Rivera’s Carolina memories include plenty of ‘what-ifs’ with Cam Newton’s health
There will be no shortage of storylines Sunday when the Carolina Panthers travel to Maryland to play the Washington Football Team.
Winning the division is on the table for Washington, while the 4-10 Panthers with a win will be on the path to a less favorable draft position. Oh, and Ron Rivera will be coaching against his former team for the first time.
Rivera was the head coach in Carolina for nine seasons (2011-19) before being fired in 2019 with four games to go. He quickly took the job in Washington and has had some early success, leading the Football Team to a 6-8 record atop of the NFC East.
The teams meet at 4:05 p.m. Sunday on CBS.
“To me the excitement is about the potential with what this game could mean to us, and that’s why the game is important, more so than anything else,” Rivera said while on a call with Charlotte media.
While Rivera has moved on, there will always be the question of what could have been if franchise quarterback Cam Newton, now with the New England, had been able to stay healthy. Instead, his injuries helped lead to the end of his and Rivera’s time in Carolina.
“I do. I honestly do,” Rivera said when he thinks about the “what-ifs” with Newton’s health. “He’s the kind of guy that when he was healthy and things were rolling, man, the momentum would build.”
Newton had two shoulder surgeries after the 2016 and 2018 seasons, then sat out most of 2019 due to a foot injury. After the Super Bowl run in 2015, the Panthers only had one more winning season with Newton and Rivera (11-5, 2017).
In the 13 games he has played in this year, Newton and the Patriots are 6-7.
“In 2016, when (Newton) got hurt, we got a little bit back in 2017. We had an early start in 2018, but then the injuries just took a toll. And so I always wonder, just what would have happened? But that’s the nature of this game. You’ve got to be able to move on and unfortunately that’s where we are in terms of that,” Rivera said. “I’m fortunate I landed on my feet in Washington. And I kind of like our opportunity to grow a football team here, and I like what they’re doing in Carolina.”
Teddy Bridgewater a backup to Cam Newton?
Rivera also shared that he thinks highly of current Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and that he considered bringing him to Carolina in 2018.
“I’m a Teddy Bridgewater fan,” Rivera said. “Having talked to (former Panthers offensive coordinator) Norv Turner about him a couple of years ago when he had gone to New Orleans, he’s a guy that we thought about and lo and behold, he ends up there with a good, young football team.”
Turner coached Bridgewater in Minnesota until his knee injury in 2016. The quarterback was on the move in 2018. He signed with the New York Jets in the offseason. But the Jets traded him to the Saints, where he spent two years as Drew Brees’ backup.
The Panthers acquired Taylor Heinicke off waivers to compete for the job as Newton’s backup in 2018. Heinicke is currently on Washington’s roster as a backup. Kyle Allen and Garrett Gilbert were the other quarterbacks who spent time on the roster during that season.
Healthy Brian Burns
While Brian Burns is expected to miss Sunday’s game vs. Washington due to a knee injury, he has had an impressive second season, including eight sacks, seven tackles for loss and 20 quarterback hits.
Rivera says a large part of the reason Burns jumped this year is because he wasn’t dealing with the hand injury that held him back his rookie year.
“He doesn’t have a broken hand,” Rivera said on the difference between Burns in 2019 and 2020. “I’m serious, go back and look at how well he played until he broke his hand. He’s got two healthy hands and the dude’s explosive. ... That was one of the guys that Marty (Hurney) thought could help impact the game, and I think he’s correct.”
This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 5:43 PM.
