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At the beginning of the offseason, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery to repair an issue that had been plaguing him throughout the second half of the 2018 campaign.
The Panthers actually shut Newton down for the final two games of the season as a result of the injury, but Newton says he should have taken himself out of action a bit earlier.
“As a quarterback in this league, you’re unanimously the leader, right?” Newton told Peter King of NBC Sports. “We needed that game. I felt as if I wanted to give my team everything that I had honestly. Being hurt, being injured … looking back at it, it probably wasn’t the smartest, efficient thing, knowing that I left it all out there on the field. And if you asked me if I’d do it again, I’d do it again. I just know my worth to this team—know how much these guys believe in me and how much I believe in them. If I’m willing to do that, and I know I’ve seen other guys do the same thing, too.”
Newton was referring to the Panthers' Week 15 matchup with the New Orleans Saints, where Carolina's offense put forth an anemic performance in what ended up being a 12-9 loss.
It was pretty obvious that Newton's shoulder began bothering him much earlier than that, too, as the signal-caller threw nine of his 13 interceptions from Week 10 through his final outing in Week 15.
For the season overall, the 30-year-old threw for 3,395 yards and 24 touchdowns while completing 67.9 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 94.2.
The Panthers actually got off to a 6-2 start before limping to a 1-7 finish.
