Athletes are human. Fans and other people see superstar athletes as heroes in today's modern world. Athletes can get injured though and they are not invincible, even for the big quarterback. And the quarterback nicknamed 'Superman' is officially at training camp and back in true form. Cam Newton was testing his arm by throwing the football at Panthers practice yesterday.
Newton is a big and strong quarterback, but his career has been anything but safe and protected, especially for playing the game of football. Last season, he suffered a huge amount of hits outside or inside the pocket.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback is coming back from Shoulder Surgery to fix a partially torn rotator cuff. The media and team coach had a lot to say about their franchise quarterback at the practice.
Yesterday's action
Cam Newton has been progressing in his ability to throw the ball, throwing for the first time in yesterday's practice. Many were pleased by how Newton was playing on the field at practice. An article on ESPN by David Newton states what the media and the star had to say about the practice.
Cam Newton talked about his own performance, he stated, "It's a start. Everything felt good, but we have a long way to go to get where I know we can be." Cam seems pretty confident in himself but knows there is a lot of work left to do.
The Panthers should look to make sure Newton is healthy and protect him because he is their prized gem. The team is being cautious because he only threw short passes, not any deep throws down the field. It seems that they are not rushing anything to cause an injury.
Coach's comments
Ron Rivera, the head coach of the Carolina Panthers commented about Cam's performance in practice.
He said, "I thought Cam looked very good." He continued on, "He looked a little rusty early on. But as he practiced more you could see he started to get comfortable back there." It seems that the head coach is pleased with his quarterback's performance and progress.
Can he bounce back?
Last year was a disappointment for the organization and for their QB.
In fact, it was his worst statistically throughout his entire NFL career. The ESPN article reports that he completed a career-worst 52.9% of his passes and he only threw 19 touchdowns. It was far from his best years in the league, where one season he threw 35 touchdowns.
Newton is a much different man than what he was last year. He is listed at 246 pounds currently, close to how much he weighed in his rookie year. Throughout his career, he has been listed in the 260-pound range, so it is a drastic change for the player.
Panthers new weapons
The Carolina Panthers struggled a lot on both sides of the ball. They are hoping that their first round draft pick player Christian McCaffrey will be a valuable weapon for them next year.
It seems that the team is trying to get a good playmaker running the ball because Newton has gotten injured running himself. The Panthers are looking to change around the offense and make it more pass oriented.
A quarterback is supposed to stay in the pocket or injuries occur running outside the pocket and on the field. It was evident with other star RG3 who was plagued with injuries from running around too much as a QB.
The ultimate goal for the Panthers is getting Newton ready for the season. Offensive coordinator Shula stated the ultimate goal, "Our goal is to have him ready for the opener."
The Panthers better hope that everything with Newton goes well because the upcoming NFL season is looking to be very competitive. Although, Cam Newton is looking good so far in getting back into stride for this season.