One of the bigger themes with the Patriots over the years has been “dependability is more important than ability,” and that could come up in the coming days relating to the quarterback position.
With the regular season less than three weeks away and final rosters being due next Tuesday, the Patriots will need to decide between Cam Newton and Mac Jones.
And on that subject, it’s been learned Newton will not be on the field for the next few days.
“Due to a misunderstanding about tests conducted away from NFL facilities, and as required by the NFL-NFLPA protocols, Cam will be subject to the five-day entry cadence process before returning to the facility,” the Patriots said in a statement Monday morning. “Cam will continue participating virtually in team activities and return to the club facility on Thursday, August 26.”
This means the veteran will miss at least Monday-Wednesday and that includes a joint practice with the Giants ahead of Sunday’s final preseason game. And then even if Newton does return to the facility Thursday, will he jump right in and return to the field for a joint practice after missing the entire week? Will Bill Belichick allow him to play in the game after missing some time?
Because of this, Jones will get a ton of reps with the starting unit and given how important joint practices are from an evaluation standpoint, the number of opportunities the rookie will get this week against the Giants could be enough for him to win the starting job.
Jones has performed very well this summer, including in both preseason games, but the criticism has been it hasn’t come against starters. If the No. 15 overall pick performs well this week with the starting unit, what else is there to prove?
While Belichick has said Newton is the starter, he’s still noted the on-going competition which all but indicates no starter has been named. From watching all the training camp practices and two preseason games, it’s clear Newton and Jones are close. But, with Jones getting a huge chunk of the reps this week, if he makes the most of them, a case could be made it will be enough to win the starting job.
On Monday's The Greg Hill Show, Belichick was asked what it would take for Newton to no longer be considered the starter?
"Somebody is going to have to play better than him," Belichick responded.
With Newton not on the field, that very well could be this week.
It’s also worth bringing up why Newton is missing the next few days — because he is not vaccinated and the rules are different for vaccinated players compared to unvaccinated players.
What if this sort of thing came up in the regular season and Newton had to miss a game? It’s OK to adjust on the fly for the final week of the preseason, but not before an important game that counts.
While the NFL said teams cannot hold vaccination statuses against a player, when it ultimately hurts the team, as is the case with this situation, it’s hard to ignore.
Whether fair or not to Newton, not being on the field the next few days could potentially be the difference between winning a starting job and losing one.
