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Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, who has served as a mentor to Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, said this week that there are racist undertones to some of the criticism Newton takes. But Newton doesn’t see it that way.

On a conference call with Chicago reporters today, Newton said he hadn’t heard Moon’s comments, but he doesn’t believe his critics are racist.

“I haven’t heard anything he said. But obviously Warren is a person I go to and I lean toward for guidance and leadership on the field and off the field,” Newton said, via the Chicago Tribune. “When it comes to [racism] I don’t think there is any at all. I’m just going to continue to do the things that have gotten me to this point and focus on trying to win a football game.”

Newton has acknowledged that he’s disappointed that his own statistical output has declined while the Panthers have slumped to 1-5, but he said he’s just going to let that motivate him to work hard.

“I’m going to keep trying to get better at each and every practice,” Newton said. “Come game time, hopefully I will have done enough to make my job excel.”

Whatever the motivations of Newton’s critics, excelling at his job is the only way for Newton to silence those critics.