CHARLOTTE – Quarterback Cam Newton was listed on the injury report Wednesday for the first time this season, and head coach Ron Rivera said it might not be for the last time.

"We've got to be able to make sure he's healthy down the stretch," Rivera said. "Giving him a day every now and then, I think it's important for his well-being."

Newton was listed as limited because of his right shoulder, but Rivera described it as "just pretty much general soreness."

"The guy played a heck of a fourth quarter and is a little sore, a little tired," Rivera said. "It's that time of the year; you've just got to be smart. We had a number of guys that didn't practice today – Mike Adams, Julius (Peppers). It's just one of those things."

That fourth quarter, when the Panthers rallied from a 17-point deficit Sunday to knock off the Eagles, helped Newton earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the 10th time in his career.

"It's great. It really is," Rivera said. "He's worked really hard, and I don't know if people really appreciate the work he's put in with a new coordinator, a new positon coach and new weapons he's working with on the field."

Newton wants to keep putting in that work – something that his coach curbed Wednesday and might again.

"He's freaking unbelievable. It's tough to keep him (out)," Rivera said of Newton's opposition to taking practice reps off. "But he understands it. He gets it. He reluctantly does it. He does the part of practice that we allow him to do, and the other parts he stands back there with Norv and Scott and watches practice and evaluates. And when he gets a chance, he can heckle the defense."