Bill Belichick Responds To Cam Newton Starter Rumors
Bill Belichick has responded to rumors that Cam Newton will officially be named the new starting quarterback of the New England Patriots.
“We’re not naming any starters at any positions,” he said on Friday.
“Any conversations that I have with the team will stay between me and the team. Sorry I’ll have to bypass that one.”
While Belichick did not confirm Newton’s status this week, he did speak glowingly of the former MVP.
“He’s an extremely hard worker,” the Patriots head coach said.
“Nobody works harder than Cam does. He’s here early, he stays late and he works very hard. Some players like to work on things they’re good at, like if you’re strong on the bench press you just throw more weight on the bench. But Cam works on things he’s not at good at and tries to improve on a daily basis and that’s something I really respect about him.”
One NFL player has decided to honor a fallen police officer on his helmet next season. https://t.co/a87RpietTQ
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 3, 2020
Belichick’s most recent take on Newton’s work ethic echoes what he said earlier in the offseason.
“Cam’s a hard-working kid,” he said back in August. “He really is.”
Newton came to New England as a free agent after essentially being kicked to the curb by the Carolina Panthers.
New head coach Matt Rhule wanted to start with a clean slate, and that included replacing Newton with former New Orleans Saints backup Teddy Bridgewater.
Coincidentally, at the very same moment, the Patriots found themselves without a clear starting quarterback for the first time in two decades. After winning six Super Bowls with the organization, Tom Brady defected to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this offseason.
For a while there, it looked like Belichick would be forced to choose between Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer to lead the offense.
Dak addressed the elephant in the room. https://t.co/7TB8BorTSJ
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 3, 2020
Fortunately, it did not come to that. Newton entered the picture, easily blew Belichick away and now he will have the opportunity to pick up from where Brady left off.
All in all, New England is still well positioned to win the AFC East. Although the roster has objectively degraded in quality from last season, the division they play in is notoriously weak.
The Buffalo Bills are a threat, obviously, but that presumes Josh Allen will actually be able to utilize new wide receiver Stefon Diggs. If the former Wyoming standout does not make the sort of offseason throwing progress many expect him to, it will be on the defense to carry the load – again.
Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins somehow got even worse at quarterback in the offseason. Their big rookie selection in Tua Tagovailoa looks to have been a big mistake, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming off some family issues.
Time for the Dolphins to panic?https://t.co/eagedoAOZw
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 2, 2020
The New York Jets may improve slightly from last season, assuming Sam Darnold doesn’t pick up any new life-threatening ailments, but that improvement is unlikely to be substantive.
All in all, this is still the Patriots’ division to win. If Newton even moderately returns to form and can stay healthy, New England will be able to surprise a lot of people in 2020.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
