NEW YORK — Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back Tuesday during an accident in which his truck rolled over on a highway about one block from the team's stadium.
The Panthers initially said Newton, 25, was in fair condition and undergoing tests at Carolinas Medical Center after the two-vehicle accident on Interstate 277 in Charlotte.
Further testing revealed the fractures, the same type of injury Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo suffered during an Oct. 27 game against the Washington Redskins. Romo, who underwent back surgery in the offseason, sat out one game due to the injury and returned to action the past four weeks.
The transverse processes are the bony projections off each side of the vertebrae and fractures typically require almost two months to fully heal, according to Tampa, Florida-based spine surgeon Alfred Bonati. Like Romo, Baylor University quarterback Bryce Petty missed one game earlier this season because of two cracks in the transverse processes in his back.
Newton was put on a stretcher and taken to Carolinas Medical Center by ambulance after Tuesday's accident, the Charlotte Observer said on its website. The paper posted a photo on its Twitter account of Newton alert and smiling at the accident site, as well as one of him on the stretcher.
Newton was selected by the Panthers with the first overall pick in the 2011 National Football League draft. In his first four seasons, he has a 28-31-1 record as a starter, passing for 14,111 yards and 80 touchdowns, with 53 interceptions. The 6- foot-6, 260-pound Newton has also rushed for 2,457 yards and 31 touchdowns.
The Panthers have a 4-8-1 record this season after going 12-4 a year ago and making the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Carolina hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week.
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