Panthers tight end Ben Hartsock says teammate Jeremy Shockey saved his life. Hartsock credited Shockey with helping to save his life Monday after he choked on a piece of meat and couldn't breathe in the team's lunch room. "He started to go to the bathroom, and I don't know if he collapsed, but he couldn't breathe," agent Mike McCartney said. "Some new guy came and tried to give him the Heimlich. It didn't work. Then, Shockey hit him in the back pretty hard and out came the meat. The Panthers told me it was really scary. "He said to me a little while ago, 'I really hope this doesn't get out, but if it does, it's going to be a funny story.'"

Panthers coach Ron Rivera hasn't named his Week 1 starting quarterback, but did admit that Cam Newton will start the team's preseason finale. While no official announcement has been made, all indications are Newton will be the starter when the Panthers open their regular season Sept. 11 at Arizona. Jimmy Clausen has a knee injury and Derek Anderson is viewed by the coaching staff as nothing more than a backup.

Cincinnati rookie QB Andy Dalton led four first-half scoring drives while overall No. 1 draft pick Cam Newton of Carolina struggled in the Bengals' 24-13 preseason victory Thursday night, according to an ESPN.com report.

Cam Newton has the potential to become the face of the Panthers' franchise. So before the team drafted him, owner Jerry Richardson wanted answers to some questions, including the quarterback's physical appearance. In a recent interview on "The Charlie Rose Show" on PBS, the 75-year-old Richardson recounted a conversation he had with the the 22-year-old on April 4 in which he asked Newton if he had any tattoos or piercings. When Newton replied "No sir, I don't have any," Richardson told Rose he told the quarterback: "Good. We want to keep it that way."

The 49ers and running back Frank Gore are far apart on a contract extension. Gore wants a contract similar to the one DeAngelo Williams received from the Panthers, according to a source. He is due to earn $4.9 million in 2011, the final year of his contract. Williams received a five-year, $43 million deal from Carolina earlier this offseason.

Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton will start the team's third preseason game against the Bengals. Carolina coach Ron Rivera said Sunday that Newton will play the first three quarters on Thursday night against the Bengals, but that doesn't mean the rookie will be the starter in the Sept. 11 season opener. "It will give us an opportunity to see how he'll handle the whole game experience and we'll go from there," Rivera said. "It makes him the starter for Thursday. We are still in the evaluation process after having gone through a game where we did some good things, but not enough good things."

The Panthers have signed center Ryan Kalil to a six-year contract worth $49 million, according to team and league sources. The deal makes Kalil the highest-paid center in the league. Kalil was scheduled to make $10.1 million in 2011 as the team's designated franchise player and signed a five-year extension through 2016 that was restructured to lower his salary-cap number this year, according to the sources.

Panthers rookie quarterback Cam Newton will start in the team's preseason game against the Dolphins on Friday. Carolina coach Ron 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.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera says the team will have a clearer idea of who will be their starting quarterback as they prepare for their third preseason game on Aug. 25 against the Bengals. Jimmy Clausen and Cam Newton have been sharing snaps in practice, but Clausen started in Carolina's first exhibition game. "It's all the same. We're going to continue to do that until we make that decision," Rivera said of the two players sharing snaps.

Greg Olsen is denying a claim by the Bears that he demanded a trade this offseason. Chicago traded the tight end to Carolina last month. Bears general manager Jerry Angelo claims that Olsen "came at me hard last year" to be dealt. "(Angelo) put the perception out that I forced my way out of there, which wasn't true at all," Olsen said. "He called me into his office before the draft last year to talk about things that were going on, what they were thinking. He straight up told me, 'I understand this offense is not a good fit for you.' I said, 'I understand that Jerry, I agree.' He said, 'But we are not going to trade you, we are keeping you.' "I never asked for a trade. If he had said, 'We are going to try to get rid of you,' I would have said, 'That's fine.' I did not go in his office and ask for a trade. I think a little bit of that is him trying to make it look like I tried to force my way out because they took so much heat about it. It's just not true."