HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Bill O'Brien figured his old friend, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera would make him wait all week before announcing whether Cam Newton or Kyle Allen would start at quarterback for Sunday's game at NRG Stadium.
I've known Ron a long time," O'Brien said Monday morning. "I'm sure he's not going to come out and tell us who's playing, so we're going to have to have a big week of practice here and get ready for both."
About 30 minutes after O'Brien said this, Rivera announced Allen would start under center.
Panthers ruled out QB Cam Newton from Sunday's game against Houston due to his foot injury. Another start for Kyle Allen.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 23, 2019Allen stated in place of Newton last week in Arizona, completing 19-of-26 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns as the Panthers beat the Cardinals 38-20 for their first win of the season.
"Kyle played with really good poise," O'Brien said Wednesday. "He threw the ball accurately, he knows the offense. I thought he played with confidence. I think he's going to be a handful."
The Panthers quarterback will make his third NFL start in a city his familiar with. After orginially signing with Texas A&M as the top quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class, Allen transferred to Houston where he threw four touchdown passes in four games before leaving with a year of eligibility left to enter the NFL Draft. He signed with the Panthers after going undrafted. Injuries to Newton and Taylor Heinicke gave him his chance late last season.
"The thing that was impressive about Kyle last year was he's a guy that was an undrafted free agent, we bring him in, he learns our system," Rivera said in a conference call with Houston media Wednesday. "He's on the practice squad, we let him go, we bring him back, put him back on the practice squad. Get this opportunity, the biggest thing that impressed me about him was that he knew the offense, he understood the game, so when he's on the field he has a tremendous amount of poise and confidence because I think he's very confident in his abilities.
"He was a guy we liked from the beginning, it was just about getting him the opportunity and low and behold when he got them he took advantage."
Allen started the Panthers final game last season and beat the Saints in New Orleans. He won a training camp battle with third round pick Will Grier to serve as Newton' backup. The 2015 MVP failed to throw a touchown in season opening losses to the Rams and Buccaneers, and a foot injury has thrust Allen into the spotlight.
"There's definitely a difference in playing style between him and Cam, but the offense is in many ways, there's a lot of weapons," O'Brien said. "There's D.J. Moore, there's (Curtis) Samuel, there's Greg Olsen, so in the end you've gotta see how they played when Kyle's been in there, but you better know where (Christian) McCaffery is on every play and Olsen and all these other things because Kyle does a good job of getting those guys the ball."
