Well, that something is an injured foot and that someone is quarterback Cam Newton.
Newton suffered an injury to his left foot late in the first quarter at New England Thursday night after scrambling from a pass rush, before eventually going down due to a sack.
Early reports are that is only a sprain and that x-rays were negative. Newton will likely have an MRI when he returns to Charlotte.
Moments later, he walked into the locker room under his own power without much of a limp in his gate. Carolina eventually confirmed that Newton had an injured foot and that he wouldn’t return for the game.
In an interview with Panthers television broadcast, tight end Greg Olsen was optimistic his teammate would be OK.
“Hopefully he’s alright,” Olsen said. “Hopefully they’re just being cautious, but you never want to see your go going into the locker room.”
This was the first time Newton has played since the middle last December in Week 15 last season.
He missed Carolina’s final two games due to an injury to his throwing shoulder. He had surgery during the offseason to repair the damage.
Newton spent the entire offseason rehabbing it and was being watched very carefully during training camp. Doctors wouldn’t let him throw excessively but rather kept him on a tight throw count.
Rivera said on Tuesday that Newton was healthy and that his quarterback needed to get some game time in before the start of the season. But he did offer that fateful quote.
“You always hold your breath,” Rivera said then. “You just never know. It’s crazy how things happen. You’ve just got to go out and play football and hope for the best.”
Allen entered the game with 9:52 remaining in the second quarter. He completed his first two passing attempts with an eight-yard completion to running back Jordan Scarlett and three-yard pass to receiver Curtis Samuel.
Allen was sacked for a loss of nine by Patriots defensive end Michael Bennett. He went 0-of-3 passing on the drive and that forced another three-and-out.
Allen continued to struggle late in the third quarter, completing just one more pass to finish his night 3-of-6 for 16 yards.
On a night that had very little positives with the quarterbacks, Grier entered the game to start the fourth quarter and gave the Panthers an offensive spark with a 27-yard completion to running back Reggie Bonnafon
Grier attempted another deep pass to receiver Jayden Mickens that was incomplete, but Rivera used his second pass-interference challenge of the night. The initial no-call was once again upheld.
Grier led the Panthers down the field and Carolina settled for a 41-yard field goal after an 11-play drive.
Down 10-3 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game, Grier was unable to lead the Panthers down the field for a potential game-winning drive, going 0-of-2, before being sacked.
Grier finished his night 4-of-8 for 44 yards.
In somewhat of a surprise move, Heinicke did not see any playing time for the first time this preseason.