In an interview with former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney last week, quarterback Cam Newton spoke candidly about one of the biggest learning curves he faced his first two seasons.

“(Former offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski) opened the floodgates with material right from the jump,” Newton told Hurney. “I didn’t like it then because coming from a hand signal philosophy from Auburn, it was kind of force-feeding a kid with carrots. I didn’t want to learn it, and I was always trying to complain about the workload.”

After we highlighted the above quote and more from the Hurney/Newton interview Tuesday, a few national media outlets picked it up, and some apparently spun it into “Cam Criticized Chud!” headlines.

Wednesday night, during an interview on Sirius XM NFL Radio, Newton clarified his comments, saying they “came off wrong.”

“Everyone knows (when I) was coming from Auburn, it was a one hand signal (offense), and I was gone. When I came here it was a culture shock,” Newton told Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt. “There were things that were thrown at me that I never would have even imagined. The whole college system was somewhat training wheels and whatnot and without the appreciation for me with having coach Chud around, I would not have had the season that I did have.

“I’m very appreciative of that man – him as well as coach (Mike) Shula – believing in me from day one. The way I read the article; it was not portrayed that way. I just wanted to say that if it wasn’t for coach Chud believing in me, first off I wouldn’t have believed in myself.”

It’s unclear if Newton was referring to our post when he referenced “the article,” but we believe we portrayed his comments about his first two seasons, and on Chudzinski fairly.

You can hear Newton clarify his remarks by clicking the play button below:

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