Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton won't face a slump says head coach Ron Rivera - NFL News
Carolina Panthers are counting on quarterback, Cam Newton, to continue his explosive form, which saw him become one of the most exciting young stars last year, in the upcoming 2012-13 season.
Newton was devastating and performed brilliantly throughout the season, starting all 16 games for the Panthers, while breaking multiple records on the way, to become a hero for Panthers fans in his first season in the National Football League (NFL).
His efforts saw the National Football Conference (NFC) South strugglers become a relevant franchise again as he helped the team to a 6-10 season.
This year the expectations from Newton are even higher and some analysts believe that the added pressure might lead the quarterback to undergo a slump in his form in the new season.
However, head coach, Ron Rivera is under no doubt that Newton will return better than ever and his hard work ethic will ensure that the quarterback continues to improve his game and move closer to realising his potential to become one of the best players in the league.
Speaking to the Charlotte Observer in a Q&A session on Friday, Rivera said about the quarterback.
“I will say this about a sophomore slump – if there’s anybody that’s going work through it, he’s going to work through it.”
Adding further he said.
“When the season was over, one of the things he said was he wanted to find a way to make sure he didn’t have one. I think the less we talk about it, the less we get caught up in it, the better.”
Newton was brilliant in his rookie season as he broke Peyton Manning’s rookie season passing yards record.
The quarterback passed for 4,051 yards to secure his name in the NFL record books. In addition to this feat he also scored 14 rushing touchdowns in 2011-12 to break the record for the highest number of rushing touchdowns scored by a quarterback in a single season.
Such feats become all the more impressive if we take into account that Newton started the season without a full offseason training camp under his belt due to the NFL lockout.
This year with a complete training session and after assimilating in the league Newton seems ready to achieve even bigger targets.
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