National Football League

Cam Newton flossed on the sideline. Literally.

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:21 p.m. ET

Chris Chase

Glitter, glisten, gloss, floss? Cam Newton was doing it all Thursday in the NFL season opener.

Cameras spied the reigning MVP doing some spot teeth cleaning in Denver while his defense was on the field in the third quarter, trying to hold his 17-7 lead.

Evidently Newton missed the recent news that flossing's benefits have been recently called into question. In fairness, the heroic findings applauded by lazy people everywhere were released during training camp, so it's understandable the news slid past him.

We have so many questions about how and why the mid-game floss came to be, but the obvious one is who's in charge of holding some Oral-B in his pocket to deliver it to Cam - who, we have to add, has fantastic teeth. (And now we know why.) That's some next-level, deflate-the-footballs kind of equipment managing. Well done, Carolina staff.

The flossing itself wasn't as big a surprise as Newton needing it. At least three times in the first three quarters of Thursday's opener, a Broncos defender went helmet-to-helmet on the Panthers quarterback, none of which drew a flag. And we're not talking love taps here. Von Miller had one that would have jarred even the peskiest piece of popcorn from the bicuspids.