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When the Panthers wrapped up their minicamp last week, coach Ron Rivera praised quarterback Cam Newton’s improved footwork and decision-making when he throws the ball.

That left Rivera feeling that Newton’s development is “headed in the right direction” as he prepares for his fifth season in Carolina and it seems to suggest that the Panthers are going to be looking for more from Newton as a passer. That’s almost certainly the case, but General Manager Dave Gettleman says neither that desire nor the big investment the team just made in Newton means that the team wants him to stop running the ball.

“No. He’s got to be Cam. You don’t hold back a thoroughbred, you don’t. I don’t know if you watched the Belmont. When [American] Pharoah came around that backstretch and that horse was nipping at his heels, the jockey let him go. He didn’t whip him. He’s just, ‘Go baby!’ And that’s what a thoroughbred does. You don’t change their game. … You can’t do it.”

Newton has run the ball 467 times for 2,571 yards and 33 touchdowns during his NFL career, so it’s not hard to see why the Panthers want him to keep that as part of his game in 2015. It’s also not hard to see where he needs to improve as a passer to get to the next level as a quarterback and melding the two parts of the game would make for the ideal next step in his and the Panthers’ progression.