| On top of all the other adjustments he has needed to make in Foxborough, it seems that Cam Newton is also beginning to master Patriot-speak. That obscure language doesn’t have an official dictionary and you won’t find it uttered anywhere outside of a small enclave of New England. To break it down, it is a rather odd mixture of football lingo and English, with the interesting tweak that no sentence must mean exactly what it appears to say. Which is why, at precisely the time when it seems certain that Newton has gotten his hands on the starting quarterback job for the New England Patriots, he is insisting the polar opposite. “Absolutely not,” Newton answered, when asked by reporters if he felt the position had been earned, per indications from head coach Bill Belichick and training field trends. “Every day is a work day for me. That label is not important to me right now because I know I have so much to get better at, so much that I need to learn, so much that I need to be comfortable with.” Yet while Newton was talking up depth chart competitors Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer, the Patriots did indeed look to be moving towards a situation where the former Carolina Panther and 2015 National Football League MVP would be under center when the team takes on the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 13. Belichick is famous for giving nothing away during his interactions with the public. His podium sessions on Super Bowl media days are a form of macabre performance art in the genre loosely described as “how to say precisely nothing while talking for a full hour.” Newton, in his own way, is getting the picture. He is also, probably, getting the gig. “First thing you saw right away was (Newton) comes with a lot of energy every day, and he’s happy about that,” Patriots safety Devin McCourty told the NFL Network last week. In 7 v. 7 and 11 v. 11 drills, Newton is getting the lion’s share of the reps. According to on-site reports, he had attempted 156 passes, compared to 61 for Stidham – who was bothered by a hip injury early in camp – and 115 for Hoyer. And Belichick, while not saying who it is, suggested in his inimitable way that they are close to announcing a starter. “I think we’re ready to, I would say, move forward from an execution standpoint,” he told reporters. “I think we’re kind of getting to the point now with all the quarterbacks where there’s not a lot of new installation going in.” With Stidham very raw and Hoyer steady but seen mainly as a backup, you can connect the dots. So, a great story potentially begins. The Patriots have issues, with eight of their players having opted out of the season due to concerns over the coronavirus. They are one of the most interesting teams in the league, espeically because they are working without Tom Brady for the first time in a generation. FOX Bet has them at 21-to-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. The idea of a redemption tale for Newton after things nosedived spectacularly towards the end of his time in Carolina, is irresistible to many. Big throws, a calm mind and seamless precision are the real things that matter when it comes to a QB’s performance. But as we try to analyze through limited information, it is interesting to glean what we can from how Newton is fitting in. It does appear, that after all those years of being the alpha figure and perhaps feeling the pressure to act as thus, the 31-year-old is actually thriving in a situation where putting the team’s needs ahead of your own personality is demanded. Newton can almost have things both ways, by saying the right things and playing the company line in public, while maintaining his inner belief. “People talk about Cam’s ego and bravado being a negative,” Nick Wright said on FS1’s First Things First. “In this very specific instance, I think it prepares him better than nearly anyone else in the league to step into the void that Tom Brady has left. Cam – at his core, I would bet – believes he’s as talented as any other quarterback to ever play.” In New England, the usual rules do not apply. For Newton, having the courage to show humility, to prove that he is taking nothing for granted, might actually be sending the biggest message we’ve seen since he moved there. That he understands the place and the culture. That he acknowledges the rare opportunity presented before him. And, most of all, that he is embracing the challenge. Here’s what others have said … Skip Bayless, Undisputed: “Cam needs to be Cam. ‘The Patriot Way’ has to be more of the ‘Cam Way’ if he’s going to be the player he was in 2015, which a lot of people expect. You can’t tell him not to be himself anymore. To me, you’re going to have to mellow enough to allow it to be the ‘Cam Newton Way,’ and I don’t mean that in a bad way, I mean it in a great way.” Brandon Marshall, former NFL wide receiver: “This could be one of the best years Cam Newton has ever had because he’s not only a superstar talent, but he’s getting the coaching that’s going to take his game to a whole other level.” Nick Wright, First Things First: “Cam knows he’s the starter. Brian Hoyer is 1-11 since 2015. And Jarrett Stidham is Jarrett Stidham. Cam Newton is doing the right thing because of the origination that he’s in, which is to say ‘I haven’t earned it yet.’ He’s saying the right things, but it is an impossibility that a healthy Cam Newton is not your starter Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins.” |
