Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was a thorn in the side of the Atlanta Falcons for a long time. In 16 career meetings, Newton racked up over 3,400 passing yards and 21 touchdowns, plus another eight scores as a rusher. Now a podcaster and analyst, Newton is making nice with a couple of former division rivals. On Thursday, he hosted Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. on his 4th & 1 podcast, and shared some advice about injuries. After relating a story about the Lisfranc injury that cut his 2019 season short, he had this to say about recovery. "The hardest thing for me to understand and cope with was getting out of my own way. If I could go back and re-do things I would have sat out a whole season, because I wasn't healthy..." Here's the full clip of Penix's appearance on the pod.
There's definitely something to be said for not playing through injuries, but Penix may not have much of a choice. If he can't get on the field relatively early in the season - all it would take is a few quality starts in a row for Tua Tagovailoa to permanently take over Atlanta's QB1 spot. However, Tagovailoa's first impression didn't go overly well on Friday night. Regardless of when Penix gets on the field again, though, he must prove he can be the team's long-term solution to its quarterback problem.
This article originally appeared on Falcons Wire: Cam Newton shares advice for Falcons quarterback Michael Penix