NFL: Newton 'thankful' to survive crash

Cam Newton is not worried about when he'll return to the football field - he's just happy to be alive.

The Carolina Panthers quarterback returned to the team's facility Thursday, two days after a two-car accident left him with two fractures in his lower back.

"As far as when I'm coming back, who cares? I'm just thankful to have breath in my lungs."

Newton won't play Sunday against Tampa Bay. Derek Anderson will start at quarterback.

"I'm on somebody's fantasy [football] league, and I think it's the man upstairs," Newton said.

Newton said he doesn't think the other driver saw his 1998 Dodge truck. Newton said the car clipped the side of his slightly elevated truck, causing him to spin and the truck to overturn.

Newton said he was conscious but was not sure how many times his vehicle flipped. He said the air bags deployed.

"In my book one plus one always equals two. And I'm looking at this truck and this accident and like, dude, one plus one doesn't equal two. I'm like, hey, somebody is supposed to be dead."

Coach Jay Gruden expects Colt McCoy will be sufficiently recovered from a neck injury to start Sunday against the New York Giants, adding that McCoy is "in the lead" above Robert Griffin III and Kirk Cousins.