Coley Harvey, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Andy Dalton, Cam Newton shouldn't change confident approach

CINCINNATI -- After a whole season of seeing a gregarious Cam Newton smile, Dab and Superman-pose his way to the Super Bowl, it was jarring for many late Sunday night to see a more stoic, sullen-faced and attention-averse version of the Carolina Panthers quarterback.

In the days since his Panthers lost Super Bowl 50 to the Denver Broncos, Newton has been hammered for the mostly short answers he gave before he interrupted his postgame press availability by walking away. He's been chided for being childish. He's been labeled a sore loser.

One of the solutions some have come up with for Newton's apparent behavioral lapse is for him to ditch the personality. Be more robotic, they have said. Simply play quarterback and provide the types of standard, pat answers he thinks reporters want to hear, they add.

Remember pre-2015 Andy Dalton? That's the quarterback they are calling for Newton to become.

That version of Dalton was one who was, yes, at times, good. That version of Dalton strung out a couple consecutive 300-yard passing performances en route to becoming the October 2013 AFC Offensive Player of the Month. He was a player who was still liked by his teammates, but one who hadn't quite earned the type of respect that he garnered this past season. It was this year when he ditched his comparatively bland past and started conducting himself a little more like the Newtons of the quarterbacking world.

Charged by former offensive coordinator Hue Jackson last offseason with letting loose more on and off the field, and commanded by head coach Marvin Lewis to be a more dependable leader, Dalton became what they requested. Longtime Bengal Andrew Whitworth deferred overall captaincy to Dalton. Before a season-ending thumb injury in Week 14, the quarterback had led the Bengals to 10 wins and seemed poised to finally carry them over that annoying first-round playoff hurdle.

For a time, Newton wasn't the only quarterback with a legitimate shot of winning the MVP. Back in October, Dalton led the race.

And why? How? It had to be his approach. It had to stem from the way he was finally letting his personality show. After all, Dalton hadn't made any other tangible changes to his play between the first four years of his career and the fifth.

Before his injury, Dalton's hip hairstyle was getting the over-saturated national attention Newton's Dabbing eventually garnered. The touchdown spike that had more pointed and emphatic emotion than past years became Dalton's celebration, much the way Newton had long mimed ripping open his shirt like Clark Kent.

Energy and enthusiasm were key components to both quarterbacks' style of play this past season. To ask either to discard them would be criminal.

The overarching lesson Dalton ought to take from 2015 should stem from the manner in which he went about his business. Jackson's approach worked. Keep it moving forward.

But with the assistant coach gone, off to Cleveland to serve as the Browns' head coach, one might wonder if Dalton will revert back to his old persona and style of play. Swagger and confidence were two of Jackson's more prominent traits, and they certainly rubbed off on Dalton.

Don't worry, Bengals fans. Old Andy isn't coming back.

New offensive coordinator Ken Zampese (Dalton's QBs coach his entire career) may have a more muted personality than Jackson's, but don't forget, he's the same coach who was enamored with confidence-filled AJ McCarron during Alabama's pro day two years ago.

That means, look for the very same Dalton -- and, yes, Newton -- in 2016.

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