Panthers QB Newton encouraged following surgery

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said Wednesday that his shoulder feels good, nearly a week after arthroscopic surgery.

Newton, 29, missed the final two games of the 2018 season with a sore throwing shoulder. The team said last Thursday that the procedure was successfully performed in Charlotte, N.C., by team physician Dr. Pat Connor.

Newton had surgery on the same shoulder in March 2017, also performed by Connor, to repair a torn rotator cuff. He recovered from that surgery in time to play in the third preseason game and did not miss a start during the 2017 regular season.

“It’s good. It’s good,” Newton said about his shoulder on Radio 680 The Fan in Atlanta,” adding, “It’s better than I thought it would be. With so much going on throughout this season, I was in fear to see what actually was wrong.”

This surgery should require a shorter recovery period than the previous surgery, given that it was done arthroscopically.

Newton completed a career-best 67.9 percent of his passes in 14 starts (6-8 record) in 2018, throwing 24 touchdown passes and eclipsing 3,000 yards (3,395) for the eighth straight season. He also rushed for 488 yards and four scores.

Despite those numbers, he was plagued by soreness that impacted his strength.

“That’s what was so frustrating,” Newton said Wednesday. “It didn’t matter how much I would grunt, how much I would muscle up and throw it, it wasn’t going far. You’re looking at your arm like, ‘Geez, Louise! What’s really the issue?’

“You’re looking around the league, guys like Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Jared Goff . . . these quarterbacks that are saying, ‘I can make that throw. I know I can make that throw.’ And to go to practice and prepare for games and even be in games and you can’t make it physically, that’s something that’s … I wouldn’t say humbling. It just takes a hit at your pride.”

–Field Level Media