Comments from Carolina Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera.
On the decision to start Jimmy Clausen at quarterback against the New York Giants: It's kind of the natural progression right now. Things have been going good. Both guys are doing a heck of a job. What we've done is alternated reps, so we're going to continue it this week and we'll see how we approach it next week when we get to Monday.
On how he will split the reps between Clausen and Cam Newton: What we would like to do is, hopefully, get a couple of real good, efficient drives from Jimmy. Then we can get with Cam and get him some real good, efficient drives. What we're hoping to do is make sure we have the right kind of offensive lines out there, and we've got to be real smart about that, which we're going to try and do. But at the same time, we don't want to kill anybody either. We're going to be real smart about how we handle that situation.
On if Clausen and Newton could come back in the game after they are taken out: We will bring them back in again - both guys. We want to make sure we can get these guys with the same types of lines, the same types of receivers, the same types of backs. We're trying to get a real good evaluation of what they look like with all the different groups of guys.
On if he will consider starting Newton next week at the Miami Dolphins: You're way ahead of me. We'll try to make sure we've got the reps evened out in terms of who's been with the ones and who's been with the twos.
On how much the starters will play: We're hoping somewhere between 12 and 15 good snaps. We may go 18. But we want to be real smart about this and be real careful for the most part. We feel we've got a real good rotation of people, so we'll work that offensive line. We may have some starters with the (second) offensive line, moving a couple of guys around - that type of thing - to create two good lines. (We may have ones and twos) mixed in, so we can have a good group out there all the time.
On if there are any players who will not play against the Giants: We will determine that after I sit down with (head athletic trainer) Ryan (Vermillion) and we go through that. Ryan has a list of guys (i.e. Chris Gamble, Captain Munnerlyn, Geoff Schwartz and Charles Johnson) right now that we do have some concerns about and we will most certainly make that decision. Jon Beason, Steve Smith and Thomas Davis won't play.
On if he will be nervous for his first game as a head coach: Very much so. It's a lifelong dream, and I will be nervous but at the same time I'll be excited about it. So I'm looking forward to the challenge.
