Panthers coach says Cam Newton to start vs. Miami

[August 18, 2011]  SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) -- Carolina coach Ron Rivera says Cam Newton will start Friday night's preseason game against the Miami Dolphins.

Rivera says Newton's start is "pretty much following the line of what we had planned throughout training camp and that's to go back and forth" with Newton and Jimmy Clausen.

Rivera says the first-team offense will play about one half and that Clausen will get reps with the first team to keep the quarterback competition even.

The coach says he's not made a decision on which quarterback will start the Sept. 11 regular season opener against Arizona.

He says he'll likely make that announcement next week.

Rivers says by then "we'll have a real good feel for what we're going to do as we go into the regular season."

[Associated Press]

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