Cam Newton was a bad teammate last season according to Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports. "I was very immature," Newton said when asked about his sometimes moody reaction as losses piled up. "I'll be the first one to tell you, the pouting and the moping, I kind of overdid it. I know that. I was a bad teammate. I shut off to some people who gave unbelievable effort. … That's where I have to mature." There were times when Newton would brood, and that was taken as an affront by some teammates. "It's like [quarterbacks] coach [Mike] Shula says to me, 'Water off a duck's back, you can't let it bother you,' " Newton said. "If you let little things affect you, it's going to stay with you the next time you have to go out on the field. So I have to do a better job of controlling my emotions during the good and the bad. Just be a better teammate. My position requires that I show leadership and people are looking at me. If I'm pouty and grumpy, that's how they react to me." Source: The Redzone
Why? He had good games against bad defenses and terrible games against average and good defenses. He still can't make presnap reads.
I believe that will come with time. The fact is he's ready to be a leader, and definitely made that evident with this statement.
