The most exciting part of Cam Newton's press conference Wednesday had to be the moment teammate Jordan Grossvideobombed him with glorious thunder. But Newton had some noteworthy things to say as well.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback is cutting a slimmer figure this spring. He's down 12 pounds from last season, from 255 to 243. Newton said he did it as a challenge, and he's been encouraged that other Panthers players have re-committed themselves while away from the team.
"That's a personal goal for myself," Newton said. "Nobody made me do it."
Newton didn't say if he lost the weight for any particular reason. He was asked if it put him in the competition as the fastest quarterback in football.
"I'm taking my name off that ballot," he joked. "I think it's between RG3, Colin (Kaepernick) and Michael Vick. I just feel like I don't want to be fastest quarterback, I just want to be the guy that can't be caught in the open field, because if you get caught in the open field that means you're not doing something right."
Now in week two of organized team activities, Newton said new coordinator Mike Shula is in the process of simplifying the offense that Rob Chudzinski ran last season. Chudzinski left the Panthers this offseason to be the Cleveland Browns head coach.
"I think Shula's main focus has been trying to simplify things, call words, words rather than minimizing the syllables of each and every play," Newton said. "You know what you have to do, you execute."
Yes, Newton has a unique way of turning a phrase.
Follow Dan Hanzus on Twitter @DanHanzus.
