On Friday night, Carolina Panthers backup quarterback Sam Darnold—in his first official outing as a Carolina Panthers backup quarterback—was carted off the field during third quarter of the 2022 preseason finale. And as of now, the outlook isn’t particularly great for the 25-year-old.
According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Panthers believe Darnold—who had his foot rolled on by the 290-pound body of Buffalo Bills defensive tackle C.J. Brewer—may have sustained a high-ankle sprain. Head coach Matt Rhule, who did mention after the game that the injury is likely not a fracture, said Darnold is set for an MRI on Saturday.
So, with some long-term uncertainty setting in on the depth chart behind starter Baker Mayfield, Rhule was asked an interesting (but unsurprising) question—will the team look into signing Cam Newton?
“Um, Scott [Fitterer] and I will talk about that,” he said with a somewhat incredulous look. “Obviously, Cam would have to weigh in on that. There’d be a lot of things that we’d have to look at. You guys know my feelings on Cam. My time with him was fantastic. But probably too early right now to say much about that.”
Newton, obviously, remains a free agent following his largely disappointing return to the franchise last season. The former AP Most Valuable Player completed 54.8 percent of his passes with four touchdowns, five interceptions and five rushing touchdowns over eight appearances.
Like Rhule stated, it’s far too early to make a determination like that moving forward. But with Darnold’s early prognosis, Matt Corral’s season-ending injury and PJ Walker’s severely underwhelming play—maybe another reunion could be in the cards . . .
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