Over the first few months of the Cam Newton era, the quarterback had said all the right things.
It’s not about the money it’s about respect, he’s just doing what the coaches ask of him, he just wants to win, etc.
All that was pretty easy as everything went extremely well over the summer and the Patriots won their Week 1 game against Miami, but what about following the first loss?
Same deal, Newton is still saying all the right things.
“It’s what you would expect,” he said Thursday when asked how Bill Belichick and the team have been following the loss. “There wasn’t a lot of smiling going on. There still isn’t a lot of smiling going on. But that’s not the point. The point is you just have to find ways to win football games. That’s what we’re just trying to do.”
Even with the loss, many fans and pundits have changed their outlook on the team for the season since it came down to the last play against one of the best teams in the league in Seattle, but Newton put things into perspective.
“We're in week 2. This is the NFL. We're 1-1. I wouldn't be overly jolly about our record and where we stand right now. That's just honest,” he said. “Now anything else, that's irrelevant because it didn't help us win. There's just only a handful of other teams that are undefeated, but yet, no team can clinch a playoff berth or no team can clinch a title this early in the season.
“So whether you call it bandwagon people, or whether you’re talking getting people's attention, the expectation hasn't even scratched the surface as a team what we're capable of doing as well as personally myself. I don't necessarily get caught up in trying to meet other people's requirements or validations sort to speak, when I have my hands full trying to be as coachable as possible and being as accessible to this team as I need to be.”
And personally, Newton has surprised some with the way he’s thrown the ball. He’s completing 71.4 percent of his passes when for the bulk of his career he’s been in the 55-60 percent range.
“Yeah, that’s cute, but we want to win,” he said.
So while Newton was saying all the right things at the beginning when things were easy, he still seems to have that same mindset following his first bout with adversity.
The Patriots will host the Raiders Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
