Cam Newton growing more comfortable in offense

When Newton walked into the Arizona game, he had what amounted to one practice worth of exposure to a system he’s never run before. So the focus that week was on getting him up to speed on their red zone and goal-line packages (in case you forgot, it worked). Last week against Washington, they worked to isolate a percentage of the game plan he felt most comfortable with, and zoom in on those plays.

It’s a little-bit-of-everything approach, like a successful Thanksgiving plate.

“It’s kind of day-by-day,” offensive coordinator Joe Brady said Friday. “We’re installing the game plans. And we always preach putting players in a position to have success, and figuring that out, including Cam in that. Finding out things he does well, and incorporating that into.

“But for us to go from day one of training camp and think we have time to teach all these plays, that’s what training camp and OTAs are for. So we’re kind of doing everything on the run, and he’s doing an incredible job. He’s showcasing his process and his work ethic and how intelligent he is to grasp it all so quickly.”

Brady said he’s been impressed with how quickly Newton has picked up the concepts, in addition to the details of getting the basics accomplished — like getting plays called and getting the team in and out of the huddle, to the cadence to get the ball snapped.

“At the end of the day, and Cam will be the first to say, all that matters is winning,” Brady said. “But for him to go out there last week and be able to function — and not only function but have success in an offense he’s been in for four days and not come out of the game, I think is a testament to his work ethic.

“His process is incredible, how intelligent he is, all that stuff. A lot of things don’t go noticed, but just how late he stays here. Talking to him the night before the game, how much he grasps, how much he understood the why of what we’re doing. It was fun to get a taste of how great Cam Newton is.”