Cam Newton and Kelvin Benjamin less than friendly during confrontation in wake of receiver's critical comments

Less than a week after Kelvin Benjamin blasted former teammate Cam Newton, it appears it could take a while before the hatchet gets buried.

The Carolina Panthers are kicking off their preseason with a visit to the Buffalo Bills, a game that reunited Benjamin, the former Panthers receiver now playing in Buffalo, with his old quarterback in Newton. That meeting was obviously going to be a little awkward after The Athletic published comments from Benjamin slamming his fit with the Panthers and Newton’s football IQ.

During warm-ups, Newton approached Benjamin on the field and started talking with him. While Newton seemed initially friendly during the meeting, neither man was smiling as Benjamin started to walk away from him. After some more choice words, both players walked away with Newton waving him away.

Cam Newton and Kelvin Benjamin have a chat

You can check out the full confrontation in the video from The Charlotte Observer:

What either player said is unknown, but it really didn’t look like two old friends joking around before a game in which the Panthers prevailed 28-23. Newton finished 6-of-9 for 84 yards while Benjamin hauled in four catches for 59 yards and a touchdown.

What Kelvin Benjamin said about Cam Newton

Benjamin had plenty to say in an interview that came out last Saturday, calling his tenure in Carolina a “bad fit from the get-go” and speculating he might have been more successful had he played with “any other quarterback.”

Benjamin played with Newton for three and a half seasons in Carolina, though one of those was spent on the sidelines due to an ACL tear. A first-round draft pick, Benjamin looked destined to be Newton’s top receiver for years until the injury, and he never reproduced his numbers from a strong rookie season after returning from injury.

Benjamin eventually requested a trade and landed in Buffalo in the middle of last season for draft picks. The receiver’s numbers didn’t improve after being thrown into a passing game that ranked 20th in the NFL last season, finishing his first campaign with the Bills with 217 yards on 16 catches with one touchdown and two games missed with a torn meniscus.

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