Cam Newton rarely shies away from contact, but he's also a wily veteran.
The New England Patriots quarterback certainly didn't need to embellish anything after Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons laid him out with a vicious hit late in the fourth quarter.
That hit resulted in a costly 15-yard penalty on Simmons that helped set up Nick Folk's game-winning field goal for the Patriots. Even if Simmons had pulled back, though, Newton joked he would have found a way to sell the call.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Boston sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Patriots Report Card: Pats survive Newton's dud, shut down Murray
"I wasn't playing possum," Newton told WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" on Monday. "Whether they would have believed it or not -- if I would have got blown on, brushed, touched, passed by in a forceful way, I was going to flop anyway.
"The fact that he hit me as hard as he did, that was kind of surprising. But it is what it is. It was a great hit, I paid for it and it is what it was."
Simmons and teammate DeAndre Hopkins both disagreed with the unnecessary roughness penalty call amid confusion over whether Simmons was flagged for hitting Newton too late or too close to the head.
New England Patriots
Newton, meanwhile, took the blow in stride, running three more plays to advance to the Cardinals' 32-yard-line before Folk sealed the deal.
The Patriots have needed every possible advantage to win games this season, especially if Newton delivers performances like his 84-yard clunker Sunday. It sounds like the 31-year-old quarterback has no shame in doing whatever it takes to win, though.
"I'm not going to apologize for winning," Newton added. "I don’t care how we won and I would take a win in most cases this year rather than having 300 or 400 yards passing."