At 5 p.m. on Wednesday night, the Carolina Panthers coaches will meet to decide which starters will see significant time against New England on Friday night, in the third game of the preseason that many call “the dress rehearsal.”
“Ideally, we’d like to take our starters into the third quarter,” said head coach Ron Rivera. “Let them come out from halftime after we’ve gone through adjustments.”
This means quarterback Cam Newton, and an offensive line that has faced quite the re-shuffle with three starters injured, will take more snaps in live action than they have all preseason.