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Cam Newton was battered and bruised Thursday night in the Carolina Panthers' regular-season opener against the Denver Broncos.
Related: The Broncos got away with helmet-to-helmet hits on Cam Newton over and again
After the loss, it wasn't how the game slipped away that was the main point of conversation, but how many times Newton received helmet pops from defenders and how referees blatantly ignored the majority of those shots.
While Newton was silent after the game, it was teammate Thomas Davis who spoke loud and clear what his thoughts were on the missed calls. (H/T CBS)
"That's nothing new," the veteran linebacker said, via the Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler. "They didn't do anything different that hasn't happened all along. It's just something that the league is going to have to police and they're going to have to do a better job of and start treating him like the quarterback that he is.
"They look at his size. It's kind of like the NBA used to allow guys to get away with that against Shaquille O'Neal because of his size. But when you dig deep down into it, they talk about player safety all the time and they need to protect that player as well."
Only one of the hits was called a penalty, but it was wiped out after Newton was called for intentional grounding.
The Panthers lost after Graham Gano whiffed on a 50-yard attempt in the closing seconds of the opener.
