Cam Newton Takes Partial Blame for Joe Brady's Firing as Panthers OC During Bye Week

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton believes he's at least partially to blame for the firing of offensive coordinator Joe Brady earlier this week.

"Do I think I had something to do with it?" Newton said Thursday, per ESPN's David Newton. "The competitor in me, absolutely, yes. Because the truth of the matter is you don't lose your job because of success.

"Where I'm at now is doing what I can control to make sure that I have a job, too. Let's just be honest."

Brady was fired following Carolina's 33-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 28. Newton had a career-worst 5.8 passer rating in that game, having completed 5-of-21 passes for 92 yards and two interceptions. 

In Newton's first start since re-joining the Panthers on Nov. 21, he looked much better, completing 21-of-27 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a 27-21 loss to the Washington Football Team. 

Regardless of how Newton feels, the Carolina offense was falling apart even with Sam Darnold under center. Before suffering a shoulder injury and being placed on injured reserve on Nov. 12, Darnold failed to throw a touchdown in three straight games. 

In those three games, the former New York Jet completed just 54.9 percent of his passes for 413 yards and four interceptions. His quarterback rating was 48.5 through Weeks 7-9, per Pro Football Reference. 

The Panthers are also ranked 29th in the NFL in passing yards per game (197.4) and 16th in rushing yards per game (111.3). 

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule explained his decision to part ways with Brady earlier this week while speaking with reporters. 

"[Brady has] done a lot to get us moving in the right direction, but this was something that I felt like, from a football perspective, we needed to do now," Rhule said.

The Panthers enter Sunday's game with a 5-7 record. Despite the losing record, though, Carolina is still in the playoff race. Senior offensive assistant Jeff Nixon has since taken over offensive coordinator duties.