Patriots' Bill Belichick remains committed to Cam Newton: 'He's our best player there'
Bill Belichick may have benched his struggling quarterback Sunday, but he’s continuing to stand behind him.
The New England Patriots head coach said on Sunday that Cam Newton would continue to be the starting quarterback despite his recent struggles. Belichick went even further Monday during an interview on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria,” saying that Newton is their best QB option.
Offense needs to be more productive
“I think he's our best player there, so again there are other problems offensively," Belichick said. "There are things we need to do better and that is what we're going to work on. I think we have our best players out there. We just have to find a way to be more productive. We have been at times, but we certainly weren’t [Sunday], and we need to see if we can improve that.”
That has to make Newton feel a little better after Jarrett Stidham replaced him after he threw his third interception in a blowout loss to the San Francisco 49ers. There are problems, but Belichick is confident they’ll get through them. After suffering the worst home loss of his Patriots career, a 33-6 drubbing, there’s really nowhere to go but up.
COVID-19 not an issue
Newton’s struggles have intensified since he came off the reserve/COVID-19 list a few weeks ago. In his past two games, he’s 26-for-40 with 255 yards, five interceptions and no touchdowns. Not exactly the stellar Cam we’re used to seeing.
Belichick was asked during a Tuesday video conference whether Newton is suffering from effects of COVID-19, and if that could be why he’s been playing so poorly. Belichick dismissed that immediately.
#Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked by reporters something many have wondered: Does COVID-19 still affect Cam Newton and has it altered the way he plays?
“I don't think so. We'd list him on the injury report if he was. I don't think he's had any symptoms the whole way."— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 27, 2020
Newton said the same thing Monday when he was interviewed on WEEI, denying that his play is being affected by the virus or any other injury.
More from Yahoo Sports:
