The Panthers have an issue at the moment with a quarterback who gets a little pouty when they lose.
But their backup knows you can’t go too far in the other direction, either.
Newton already got a talking-to from wide receiver Steve Smith for sulking on the sidelines when he was pulled from the final minutes of Thursday’s loss to the Giants, with Derek Anderson sent in to finish.
Anderson’s working with Newton too, and said he had to learn maturity himself.
“You learn not to smile – I did,” Anderson said, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer.
That’s a reference to his classic flip-out in Arizona, when he stomped out of a press conference after a short tirade when he was asked why cameras showed him smiling at the end of a Cardinals blowout loss on Monday Night Football.
Anderson was asked if the quarterback had a responsibility to stay positive, and he said learning to deal with the pressure of the position takes time.
“I think we all can work on that,” Anderson said. “It’s hard because there’s a lot of stress, a lot of pressure you put on yourself. Our teammates expect a lot out of our position. When you don’t play as well as you expect out of yourself, it’s frustrating. It’s hard to stand up and say, ‘Hey, I played like crap.’ That’s hard to face.
“For him, he’s not used to losing. He lost last year. Being with him every day, I know how much he wants to win and how much he puts into it. So I understand the frustration, but it’s a maturation process for all of us. I was the same way.”
We know now that Anderson takes this serious. Real serious.
Now he just needs to work with Newton on not taking himself so seriously.