Cam Newton Rumors: Surgery 'Not Currently in the Plans' to Repair Foot Injury

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton will reportedly miss several more weeks with his Lisfranc injury and could be placed on injured reserve, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Surgery, however, remains off the table for now. Per Rapoport: "While Newton has been frustrated with how long his Lisfranc injury is taking to heal, surgery was not recommended and is not currently in the plans, sources say. The hope is that more rest will allow the injury to heal without having a procedure that would knock him out months."

Newton, 30, last played in Week 2 for the Panthers. In his stead, backup Kyle Allen has mostly performed well, throwing for 1,059 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions while completing 62.3 percent of his passes.

He's also led the team to a 4-1 record in his starts, though some of his limitations were on display in a 51-13 Week 8 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. San Francisco's excellent defense sacked him seven times, intercepted him three times and held him to just 158 yards and a 51.4 percent completion rate in the blowout loss.

Despite the poor performance, head coach Ron Rivera said Allen would remain the starter, giving Newton more time to rehabilitate his injury.

"We've got to make sure he's ready," Rivera said of Newton, per David Newton of ESPN. "The last update I got, more so than anything else is he's going through his rehab. We'll see. Right now, we're going into this game with Kyle as the starter."

Rivera also broke down Allen's struggles against the Niners:

"I think his internal clock was going fast to begin with. He tried to do more than he needed to. He got out of his comfort level. We saw how very cool and calm he'd been for the most part. We saw him taking the opportunities he had in front of him. We saw more throws downfield than we had the last four weeks, from my perspective. He's a guy that when he stays within his own abilities, he can help us a lot."

So Allen remains the starter, while Newton hopes to avoid surgery that would almost assuredly end his season.

"He's going up and probably seeing one of the best foot doctors," Rivera said Friday, per Rapoport, "and whatever we get from the doctor, I think will probably really impact the decisions going forward."