In the beginning of August, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick referred to Cam Newton as the team's starting quarterback. Not exactly news, considering that Belichick conveyed this message throughout the offseason.
But on Monday, Newton told reporters that Belichick has yet to name a starter for the team's regular season opener, which suggests that there's a legitimate competition between Newton and first-round rookie Mac Jones.
"We have to go off what Belichick says, and he's basically said, repeatedly, 'Cam's the starter, Cam's the starter,'" Boston Herald columnist Karen Guregian told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Tuesday. "But what your eyes tell you watching the practices and what your ears just heard Cam say suggest there's a competition involved. Again, I think many of us suspect that Cam will be the starter in Week 1, for a variety of reasons.
"But I think that Mac Jones has shown enough, at the very least, to be in the conversation and perhaps push Cam a little more. Or, be someone who they'll have confidence in if something were to happen to Cam -- he gets injured, or he just stinks."
Newton's 2020 campaign was rather lackluster. In 15 games, the 32-year-old threw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (8), and his 47.0 quarterback rating was the second-lowest mark of his career -- when counting complete seasons played. Consequently, the Patriots finished 7-9 overall, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Newton was also one of the first big-time names to test positive for COVID-19 -- he missed 10 days last fall.
As for Jones -- the 15th overall pick in this year's draft -- he made a strong first impression in his NFL preseason debut last Thursday. The Alabama product, wearing the No. 10, completed 13 of 19 passes for 87 yards in New England's win over Washington in Foxboro. He played five series and 33 total snaps.
The Patriots will open the 2021 season at home against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 12. According to the William Hill Sportsbook, New England currently has the third-best odds (+350) to win the AFC East, and the sixth-best odds (+1500) to win the conference.
The entire Patriots conversation between Guregian and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.