Cam Newton was not cleared to throw as the Carolina Panthers worked out together Wednesday, four months after the quarterback had shoulder surgery.
Head coach Ron Rivera said the team remains focused on Newton returning at full strength for the start of training camp in July.
“We’ll just continue to go through the process,” Rivera said Wednesday after the first day of organized team activities. “It’s really … not that big a deal.”
Newton, 30, had arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder in January after sitting out the final two games of the 2018 season. Doctors removed scar tissue that remained from a 2017 surgery on his partially torn rotator cuff.
The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and 2015 MVP said last month he had not been given a timetable for his return. He said he started a vegan diet and hired a personal trainer to prepare for the 2019 season.
There was good news for one of Newton’s key targets, however.
Tight end Greg Olsen, whose 2018 season ended in December with a foot injury, told reporters he can be a full participant at OTAs. Injuries have limited him to just 16 games combined over the past two seasons.
“I’ve been cleared for everything for a while now,” Olsen told reporters.
Olsen, 34, is entering his 13th NFL season — his ninth with the Panthers. He was a Pro Bowl selection each year from 2014-16, when he gained at least 1,000 yards each season.
He has 666 career receptions, with 57 of them for touchdowns.
