DETROIT _ Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton opened his mouth and the strangest thing came out once again.
Newton was in the huddle, calling a play on Sunday afternoon, as the Panthers played the Detroit Lions in Ford Field. There was less than a minute left in the first half, and Newton's mouth started working but the wrong words came out.
"To be honest, it was a broken play from the huddle," Newton said, after leading the Panthers to a 27-24 victory over the Lions. "I didn't call the wrong play, it just came out wrong."
Yes, he's had a problem with his mouth lately.
Last week, a female sports reporter asked Newton a question about Devin Funchess and his pass routes.
"It's funny to hear a female talk about routes," Newton said, "like... it's funny."
That created a firestorm, rightfully so. It was disgusting.
Eventually, Newton apologized.
"He had some unfortunate circumstances this week," Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. "I think he addressed them at the appropriate time. Like I said before, I know he understands he made a mistake and it's time to go forward."
Despite the botched play call, Newton dropped back to pass and spotted Funchess in the back of the end zone.
"It was a broken play," Funchess said. "I saw him scrambling. He looked at me and I just told him I was going to go to the left."
Newton threw the ball high and Funchess came down with a 10-yard touchdown that gave the Panthers a 17-10 lead.
"It's probably the hardest catch I ever made in my career playing football, from high school on," said Funchess, who played at Farmington Hills Harrison and at Michigan. "I surprised myself in the end zone. Bodies were right in front of me. I had to figure out where the end line was. It was just hard."
Funchess said about 60 friends and family attended the game.
"It meant the world to me that I got to do it in front of the home crowd," Funchess said. "It felt good to be back home."
