By Brendan Marks
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article221206425.html
November 6, 2018
The proof is in the ... Instagram videos?
As strange as it sounds, it’s the truth for Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown. Scroll back through both social media feeds, and their offseason workouts in Miami — running routes on sandy beaches, riding stationary bikes, lifting massive stacks of weights — start to show up.
“I just reached out to him and a couple other players and told him, ‘I wanna come work out with you,’” Newton said Tuesday. “I want to document it, sit on the documentations and when we look back a couple of years from now, we’re going to see this is why this person is how he is. Look at the way he prepares.”
Preparation, already a strong suit of Newton’s, only became more important after spending a few days with Brown. Newton said that in two, sometimes three workouts a day with Brown, he re-learned just how crucial it was to push himself to a new level.
And now the Panthers, who will travel to face Brown’s Steelers on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, are seeing the dividends firsthand from that lesson.
“I told him, ‘Look. I’m coming to you,’” Newton said. “You don’t have to worry about getting my hotel or whatever, I just really want to see how can I implement certain things that you do, and also sit back and be in awe.
“And I was.”
‘I don’t wanna waste nobody’s time’
The Panthers enter their prime-time matchup with Pittsburgh on the heels of a three-game winning streak, the most recent of which was a 42-28 victory over Tampa. And no single player has been more essential over that stretch than Newton.
Over the past three games, Newton has completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 735 yards, throwing six touchdowns and no interceptions over that same stretch. Add in his 134 rushing yards and another score on 28 carries, and Newton has been one of the most efficient — and explosive — quarterbacks in the league the past three weeks.
Part of that is a product of the weapons around Newton, everyone from do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey to reliable tight end Greg Olsen to speedy young receivers Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore. Those players have simplified Newton’s job, in a sense, allowing him to focus less on doing everything and more on getting the ball into the hands of his other playmakers.
Over the past three games, Newton has completed 69.9 percent of his passes for 735 yards, throwing six touchdowns and no interceptions over that same stretch. Add in his 134 rushing yards and another score on 28 carries, and Newton has been one of the most efficient — and explosive — quarterbacks in the league the past three weeks.
Part of that is a product of the weapons around Newton, everyone from do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey to reliable tight end Greg Olsen to speedy young receivers Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore. Those players have simplified Newton’s job, in a sense, allowing him to focus less on doing everything and more on getting the ball into the hands of his other playmakers.
But giving all the credit to those around Newton would be discounting his tremendous play the majority of this year, performance that stems in part from those summer workouts with Brown.
Who, by the sound of things, didn’t make Newton’s life easy.
“He’s literally like a nocturnal beast, you know what I’m saying?” Newton said. “I thought I was bad. The reason I say that is, we had late workouts. Like, 10 p.m.-ish, and it was our second or third one of the day. Whenever he feels the urge to work, he works, and I respect it.
“If he can get some lights on on the field, and a quarterback to throw him the ball, he trying to work.”
For as impressive as Brown’s work ethic was, though, it wasn’t simply mirroring it that was valuable to Newton. Rather, it was competing against Brown’s tenacity, learning how hard the receiver worked while simultaneously making it a point to best him.
Or try, at least.
“After the second or third day (we were together), people started catching on, so certain players or people wanted to start working out with us,” Newton said. “And he looks down on people, just as any competitor would, if your working out mentality isn’t up to his standards.
“He just refused to kind of have people around that’s not going to push him. And that’s something you’ve got to respect about him, because he sets the tone and from what I’d seen there, I was like, ‘(Expletive), lemme pick my stuff up.’ Because I know I don’t wanna waste nobody’s time.
“I damn sure don’t wanna waste my time.”
‘Am I doing enough? Can I do more?’
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said that when he sees players like Newton and Brown working out together, he understands how it can be beneficial for both to push one another.
“When our guys work out with other players from other teams, especially players that are elite at their position, I think it’s kind of cool because they get to see what other guys do,” Rivera said. “That gives them something to gauge what they’re doing — am I doing enough? Can I do more?
“I think they push each other. I think they help each other gauge themselves as to where they are and where they want to be.”
Brown isn’t the only Steelers star who Newton has taken lessons from, though.
While Brown gave Newton a barometer to measure his own effort and preparation, it’s Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger who he can take particular in-game components from. Say, how even at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, (Newton is the same height but 5 pounds heavier), you can excel as a drop-back passer.
“For him to be such a big guy, he’s real good with his feet and being patient in the pocket. That’s what I’ve learned from him,” Newton said. “In the offseason, I really take a scan of a lot of different guys, and his understanding of ... where his receivers are, is like second to none.
“He can be looking over here, and then all of a sudden scan back over here and have perfect timing and be on time for that particular route. And the play is never over with Big Ben.”
Rivera said he’s seen some of that from Newton as well, especially as he’s matured at the position.
“It’s funny because I know a lot of people think about Cam and think about him as a running quarterback,” Rivera said. “But if you really get a chance to ever break him down, you’ll see that he will hang in the pocket a lot longer — a lot like Ben does — trying to give those guys time to free up sometimes.”
So the competitive desire Newton took from Brown, plus the patience he saw in Roethlisberger, are now key factors in the Panthers’ recent success.
Not that Newton ever needed more internal fire, but it’s impossible to review the Panthers’ fourth-quarter comeback against Philadelphia three weeks ago without acknowledging Newton’s fight. And it’s probably foolish to evaluate his performances against Baltimore and Tampa without noting his pocket presence, calmness and willingness to sit in the pocket as long as possible.
It would be an over-exaggeration to say that Brown and Roethlisberger are directly responsible for Newton’s recent surge in play. But to say their lessons played a part? That’s indisputable.
Check the Instagram videos if you want proof.
Brendan Marks: 704-358-5889, @brendanrmarks
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