Chase Young and Cam Newton are two very large gentlemen.
So, when the two met in the New England Patriots backfield Thursday night, it took Young a little extra oomph to ensure he brought the quarterback down.
The Washington Football Team edge rusher is quickly becoming one of the game’s elite at his position. He showed that off just minutes into the WFT-Patriots preseason game, strip sacking Newton after blowing past Pats left tackle Isaiah Wynn.
Having been up close and personal, the second-year lineman couldn’t help but marvel at how big Newton is.
“He’s very big,” Young said after the game, via a team-provided transcript. “When I hit him, I felt like he was a big dude. But we’re both about the same size so a guy like me could take Cam down. You know, you got to take him down.”
Newton is 6-foot-5, 245 pounds. Young is 6-foot-5, 264 pounds.
The quarterback’s assessment of Young is similar, but, in typical Newton fashion, he got a good ribbing in first.
“He’s smaller than I thought. I’m just messing with you. That’s a joke. That’s a joke. I’m just messing with you,” Newton said. “But yeah, he’s going to be good, man. He’s going to be good. He’s going to be real good.
“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.”
The Patriots ultimately won 22-13. Newton went 4-for-7 in the air for 49 yards. Young finished with just the hit on Newton.
