Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has conceded that the ankle surgery he underwent earlier this year was bigger than he first realised.
The 25-year-old had the procedure seven months ago, with Panthers athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion revealing that the timeline for recovery was between four to six months.
"We kind of teased about it a couple weeks ago, how the doctor kind of downplayed how the surgery was going to go. I just thought this was a surgery just to clean up the ligaments and what not," Newton said, the Charlotte Observer reports.
"But after reading a lot of reports from you guys, hearing about so much of ligament repair and this major ankle surgery that may hold Cam Newton off for a couple months, that's when I started scratching my head like, man, this may be bigger than I thought. And something I thought may have a cast on for a couple weeks end up to be a couple months."
Newton has been sacked nine times already this season and has gone seven games without a rushing touchdown, the longest barren spell of his career to date.
However, he is confident that his ankle will continue to feel stronger as the weeks progress and believes that he will begin to start showing his running talents again soon.
