PANTHERS-NEWTON
Panthers QB Newton has hairline rib fracture
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β Panthers coach Ron Rivera says quarterback Cam Newton has a hairline fracture in his ribs and will miss the team’s final preseason game.
Rivera says he’s expects Newton to be ready for the team’s Sept. 7 regular season opener against Tampa Bay. Newton was hit after scrambling from the pocket in Carolina’s preseason game Friday night against New England. He continued to play.
Newton had an MRI on Sunday morning.
Rivera says “he’s pretty sore and he’s hurting right now. It is of concern.”
Newton has never missed a regular season start in his three seasons with the Panthers.
Rivera says “we will treat it day by day and see how he is at the end of the week. He has to get past the soreness.”
PANTHERS-MOVES
Panthers cut WRs Underwood, McNutt, Pilares
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) β The Panthers announced they have cut 10 players, including wide receivers Tiquan Underwood, Marvin McNutt and Kealoha Pilares.
The team also released wide receiver Toney Clemons, tackle Oscar Johnson, defensive linemen Lindon Gaydosh, Alex Hall and Craig Roh, linebacker Anthony Morales and punter Jordan Gay.
Underwood was signed earlier this offseason as a free agent to replace wide receiver/returner Ted Ginn Jr., who signed with the Arizona Cardinals. However, he failed to do much to impress the Panthers staff during training camp and the preseason.
Pilares was a fifth-round pick by the Panthers in 2011 who has struggled with injuries. McNutt was on Carolina’s roster last season, although he never caught a pass.
Carolina’s roster stands at 79 players. They need to cut four players by Tuesday’s NFL deadline.
T25-S CAROLINA-SPURRIER
South Carolina’s Spurrier ready for kickoff
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) β Steve Spurrier’s done with “talking season” and is ready to see No. 9 South Carolina live up to the high expectations it has dealt with since finishing a third straight year with 11 wins.
The Gamecocks and Spurrier open things Thursday night against Texas A&M, the eighth time in the coach’s 10 years at South Carolina he’s gotten an early start to the regular season.
And Spurrier is confident with “talking season” over, his players have prepared to take that next step forward. The Gamecocks were picked this summer as preseason favorites to win the Southeastern Conference’s Eastern Division. As Spurrier has continually said, if you do that, you have a chance to win the league title β a goal he’s coveted since taking over the program.
NASCAR-BRISTOL
Keselowski: Don’t count out Gibbs guys just yet
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) β Brad Keselowski is part brash racer, and part pragmatist.
He was both after following Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano to the checkered flag at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night, giving the team a 1-2 finish and a continuing surge of momentum.
Logano’s third victory of the season gave him five consecutive finishes in the top six, and gave his teammate confirmation that Team Penske is as much a Sprint Cup championship contender as anyone.
Logano’s sixth career victory, secured when he passed Matt Kenseth with 44 laps to go and then held off a challenge from Keselowski in the closing laps, allowed him to join Keselowski and the Hendrick Motorsports trio of Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson as three-time winners this season.
BRAVES-REDS
Simon turns in solid start in Reds win over Braves
CINCINNATI (AP) β Alfredo Simon pitched seven strong innings to earn his first win in eight starts since the All-Star break and Todd Frazier homered as the Cincinnati Reds held on for a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.
Simon (13-8), who was 0-5 since pitching in the All-Star Game, opened with six shutout innings before yielding a run in the seventh. He allowed five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over seven innings.
Manny Parra and Jumbo Diaz pitched the eighth. Logan Ondrusek allowed Evan Gattis’s 20th homer leading off the ninth and Jonathan Broxton gave up Jason Heyward’s RBI single before coaxing Justin Upton into grounding into a base-loaded forceout for his seventh save for the Reds, who salvaged a split of the four-game series after dropping the first two games.
