Cam Newton was introduced to Chase Young in the first quarter of Thursday night's preseason opener.
The New England Patriots quarterback took a big hit from the Washington edge rusher that forced an incompletion. Asked after the game what he thought about his experience with Young, Newton couldn't help himself.
"He's smaller than I thought," Newton said. "That's a joke! I'm just messing with you."
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Of course it's a joke. Young is a monster. The second overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft is 6-foot-5, 264 pounds and wreacked havoc on the league last season en route to earning the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
After getting his joke out of the way, Newton heaped praise onto the up-and-coming pass-rusher.
"But yeah, he's going to be good, man. He's going to be good. He's going to be real good," Newton said. "But I've got to do a better job of protecting the football. He kind of got me like right in the tweener when I was letting the ball going or trying to pull it back. Coach talks about it all the time, man, ball security is job security, and that's what it comes down to."
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Young finished with a tackle to go along with his QB hit while Newton completed four of his seven passes for 49 yards. Rookie Mac Jones took over for Newton late in the first quarter.
The Patriots earned a 22-13 victory.
Next up for Newton and the Pats is another preseason matchup vs. the Philadelphia Eagles next Thursday.