Cam Newton Won't Face Punishment for Comments on Female Reporter

The NFL isn't planning to punish Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton for sexist comments he made Wednesday toward female reporter Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer.

League spokesperson Joe Lockhart said Thursday the NFL won't "pursue further action" against Newton, but he called the remarks "just wrong," per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports noted the league added there are still "ongoing talks at the team level" regarding the quarterback's response to Rodrigue's question.

"It's funny to hear a female talk about routes like—it's funny," Newton said Wednesday.

Rodrigue responded with a post on Twitter later in the day:

She also released a statement saying she spoke with Newton following the press conference and "he did not apologize for his comments."

Scott Fowler, her colleague at the Charlotte Observer, provided further details about the interaction:

"Newton said she wasn't really seeing specific routes when watching the game, she was just seeing if somebody was open. She argued that he didn't know what she saw nor how hard she had studied football, and that maybe the two of them needed to have a deeper conversation.

"Newton said that maybe he should have said it was funny to hear 'reporters' talk about routes and that, if she actually did know about them, then she knew more than most reporters. Then he gestured toward the locker room, still filled with her colleagues."

The Carolina quarterback also reportedly told Rodrigue he didn't know her name despite her daily coverage of the team since last October.

"I have spoken with Jourdan and Cam and I know they had a conversation where he expressed regret for using those words," Panthers spokesperson Steven Drummond said in a statement. "We strive as a department to make the environment for media comfortable for everyone covering the team."

Newton and the Panthers return to action Sunday when they travel to face the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.