"Checkdown King" Cam Newton has Final Word

Patriots QB Cam Newton, called a Checkdown King earlier in the week by Eagles safety K'Von Wallace, shreds Eagles defense then anoints Wallace with his own nickname

PHILADELPHIA – The wily veteran took the second-year player to school on Thursday night.

After Eagles' safety K’Von Wallace called New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton a “chekdown king” after one of their two practices against each other earlier in the week, Newton went out and riddled an Eagles defense that sat most of its defensive line and cornerback Darius Slay.

Newton, who was the first overall pick in 2011 and an MVP in 2015 on his way to a Super Bowl appearance with the Carolina Panthers, went out and completed 8-of-9 passes for 103 yards, a touchdown, and a passer rating of 151.4 in a 35-0 blowout of the Eagles.

Afterward, he anointed Wallace with a nickname that was far from flattering, calling him “Glitter.”

Why Glitter?

“He was cheerleading a lot on the sidelines,” Newton said. “You know, cheerleaders usually have glitter on, so.”

K'Von Wallace :: Ed Kracz/SI.com Eagle Maven

To recap: Wallace called Newton the checkdown king during red zone drills in seven-on-seven when Newton continued to dump the ball off to running backs.

“I had to let him know that not only is he throwing checkdowns but he’s doing it over and over again like he mastered it like he was the king of it, so I had to let him know about it,” said Wallace at the time. “I feel any way you can get in a quarterback’s head, that’s the best approach, to say whatever and mean what you say.”

Newton never let a second-year, fourth-round pick inside his head.

“I’m just doing what I’m told just like he’s doing what he (Wallace) is told,” said Newton after Thursday’s game. “If you feel like we’re checking down, just taking what the defensive gives you. There’s no need to kind of feed into this because anytime you have a joint practice with a bunch of alpha males, certain things are going to be said.”

Wallace did his commenting earlier from the sidelines since Newton operated with the first team and Wallace was running second team.

Then, Newton had asked to take second-team reps so he could face Wallace.

“He’s a competitor and so am I,” added Wallace on his chirping. “I felt like that type of level competitiveness brings out the best in him and same with me. I appreciate that and I respect the fact that he wanted to see what I was about. He wanted to go to the second team because I was on second team. He wanted to see what I was going to do. Much respect to him.”

Newton and his offensive line had to be ecstatic that the Eagles had five key players on their DL sit this one out – Fletcher Cox, Javon Hargrave, Brandon Graham, Josh Sweat, and Derek Barnett.

During the two practices the teams had against each other, the Eagles' defensive line was dominant in 11-on-11 and made life mostly miserable for Newton and rookie Mac Jones. With the depleted line, and starting two rookies in Milton Williams and Tarron Jackson, the Eagles mustered zero pass rush all night long.

In Thursday's game, Wallace appeared to be in coverage that allowed Newton to hit Jakobi Meyers for a 28-yard touchdown.

Wallace may be the least of the Eagles’ secondary worries. Outside of Slay and Steve Nelson, the Eagles are not well fortified on the corner.

Rookie Zech McPhearson, a fourth-round pick, has not played particularly well in the first two preseason games. He was called for pass interference in the end zone against the Steelers then was flagged for holding on a play against the Patriots.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.