Q. Cam, just your thoughts on being in the stadium, being with fans in the stands for this first preseason game?
CAM NEWTON: It was fun. It was fun. It was something that I haven't witnessed before. Just to see the excitement of everything and for us to get the win, that was pretty cool for us.
We've got to still keep working, keep fighting for the standard that we know that is set not only by the coaching staff, the organization but ourselves included, and we've got a big week of practice here coming up.
Q. On your second drive, what went right for you in the offense?
CAM NEWTON: Well, it wasn't what went right, it was just more or less guys just doing their job, and that's what it pretty much comes down to. I think the first drive out of 10 guys or 11 guys, one or two guys here making a mistake, me included, we've just got to be sharper. Coach always says, you just have to commit fast. We have to start fast, and we kind of picked it up in the second drive, still had a holding penalty or something like that that kind of held us back, but more or less we know what the standard is. We know what we have to do, and that's what we've got to keep striving to do.
Q. Sounds like maybe you pulled the offense aside maybe after that first drive James said. Whether you'd be willing to talk about that or not, what did you do to get past that first drive so you guys could execute?
CAM NEWTON: Yeah, there's no magic play. There's no magic player. There's no magic remedy for offensive success in this league. If one guy messes up, it'll show more times than not. I said it before, offensive football is the ultimate team sport where you don't have the capability of having a locked down cornerback that will save the grace for a lackluster rush. If the guard doesn't make the block or step-down block, the tight end doesn't chip block, hit it out, the receivers don't make the catch, I don't -- or the quarterback doesn't make a catchable pass or even when you do make a catchable pass, somebody doesn't catch it, you still need all hands on deck. That doesn't have anything to do with the play calling, it doesn't have anything to do with trying to out-trick a defense. It's just execution.
Q. Talking about that second drive and how it was an improvement on the first drive, do you feel like you have some momentum at that point and would you have liked to play a little bit more to capitalize on that?
CAM NEWTON: Of course. While I'm in the game, I'm trying to score, so of course you would want to score, but we got some type of points out of it, and that's all she wrote.
Q. Would you have liked to get just another series or two to just keep --
CAM NEWTON: That's not up to me to make the call. I've got full faith in the coaching staff and the people that get paid to do that, and if they say it's it, it's it.
Q. What did you think of your up close and personal introduction to Chase Young?
CAM NEWTON: He's smaller than I thought. I'm just messing with you. That's a joke. That's a joke. I'm just messing with you.
But yeah, he's going to be good, man. He's going to be good. He's going to be real good.
But I've got to do a better job of protecting the football. He kind of got me like right in the tweener when I was letting the ball going or trying to pull it back. Coach talks about it all the time, man, ball security is job security, and that's what it comes down to.
Q. What were you thinking as Rhamondre Stevenson took off and went on that long run? It's almost like you were running with him. Did that kind of give you a kick watching him?
CAM NEWTON: Yeah, the man of many names. We've got a lot of nicknames for Mondre. But he showed up tonight. I always tease people on the sidelines for why do you always point in the direction where you know that they're already going, and I caught myself doing it today. So I'm like, go this way, like he's going to turn around and go the other way.
But it was fun. It was exciting. Like I said, that was the first time I felt Gillette Stadium, the crowd with a real game. Obviously it's preseason, and it only can go up from here, right, with the crowd's capacity and everything else. It's a lot of guys in there excited, including myself, and we just want to put on a great performance for the fans so that can be our edge this year.
Q. I think you mentioned it last week, I didn't catch it, did you switch off of Mac and Cheese, and how did you think he handled --
CAM NEWTON: Mac and Cheese, yeah, you've got McClennan. McClennan. You don't know what McClennan is? That's what Mac is short for. You've got to do your research. You guys are the reporters. You're supposed to have the tee. I'm not supposed to be teeing you all.
I asked him, Mac is -- like I say, he's relatively quiet sometimes, and I try to crack the DaVinci Code of the seriousness. He got a lot of -- I'm not going to say it, but yeah, he's serious sometimes for no reason.
I'm like, Mac, so what does Mac come from, is that your first name? He's like no, that's actually my middle name. I didn't know that. I said, what's Mac -- he said McClennan. I think he said that's his mom's maiden name. So there you go. Mac is short for that.
For him, man, for him to come out there, I know he came to me and talked to me and we talked it out about just his expectation. Every young quarterback goes through it, the excitement, the anticipation. He wants to be so perfect, and I see his preparation is always pristine. That's what I admire about him, being at such a young age he knows how to prepare and knows when Josh asks quick questions or when a person asks quick questions he knows how to kind of have answers for it.
Everybody is different. Everybody learns different. But for him and today's performance, he's just going to keep getting better, and we're going to be here for each other along this whole process, and that's what we're here for.
Q. Having been through some of camp now, a preseason game, how do you feel about your own progression in terms of the way you've improved coming into the season and where you're going in terms of where you want to be as a player this season?
CAM NEWTON: Yeah, I mean, it's -- got to keep getting better each and every day. Every day is a learning opportunity, especially while we can keep getting better with practices and preseason games. This is where you find out what your personnel is going to be. This is where you find out do I need to add this niche to my repertoire or not. That's pretty much what it comes down to. Like I said, we've got a big week of practice here coming up that we get to change in the arsenal, so to speak, or the target with having the joint practice, and I'm looking forward to it and guys really finding their edge and they get prepared for the next game.
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