While Newton only missed one game during the season, the time he missed during the offseason prevented him from getting consistent production until later in the year. It required him to learn while being thrown into the action of an NFL game, which can be difficult for a rookie who didn't go through the ramp-up process of OTAs, minicamp and training camp.
As someone who spent college in the Big Ten, Newton was used to the speed, but it took time for him to adjust to the intensity and speed of offenses. Newton said he spent much of his rookie season learning from his veteran teammates on how to smooth out the process.
"I'm still doing it," Newton said. "It's Year Two for me, but I'm still a rookie in the locker room. So, I'm still cherry picking. [Daron] Payne, [Javon] Kinlaw, Sheldon Day, those guys are great vets for me."
Now that Newton doesn't have to spend time rehabbing, he's able to build on the success he had later in the season. He started the final 11 games and recorded 33 tackles with two sacks and a fumble recovery.
Head coach Dan Quinn can already see a difference in the defensive tackle.
"Probably the strength I would say...because he wasn't probably able to do all the typical strength movements and that he had due to the foot injuries for, but I feel like his leg strength and that explosiveness, that's probably what I see the most, the twitch," Quinn said. "He's always been a quick person, but now with all the power that goes with it. I do see an uptick in that."