Bill Belichick always says he wants his players to do what’s best for the football team. In the Covid era, that means getting vaccinated.
But Cam Newton may be violating that commandment.
On Thursday, the Globe’s Ben Volin asked Newton whether he’s been vaccinated. The former MVP demurred, saying it’s “too personal to discuss.”
Um, not really, considering Newton’s availability will likely impact whether the Patriots win or lose games this season.
Now, it’s worth noting that Mac Jones also avoided the vaccine question Thursday, much like Belichick earlier in the week. It might be team policy to avoid publicly discussing the issue. Despite his evasiveness, we know Belichick is actually vaccinated, because the NFL mandates that all coaches get inoculated.
Belichick also said most Patriots players are “probably” vaccinated. Per NFL rules, vaccinated players don’t have to wear masks on the field, so training camp observers can probably guess which players have received the shot.
As Volin notes, Jones doesn’t a wear mask on the field.
Newton does.
I don’t want to launch into a mind-numbing dissertation about how unvaccinated people are far likelier to contract Covid-19, or how the vaccine offers stronger immunity than recovering from an infection.
If you want more information on that, seek out Dr. Anthony Fauci, or Olivia Rodrigo.
But I’m a football guy, so that’s what I’m focused on. And from a football standpoint, it would be reckless if Newton weren’t vaccinated. The NFL is going to make life difficult for the unvaccinated, forcing them to once again live under draconian restrictions. Travel is banned during bye weeks and on road trips, and they also have to sit out a minimum of five days if they are a close contact of someone infected with Covid. The penalty extends to 10 days if they contract the virus themselves.
Given that unvaccinated players are undergoing daily Covid testing, every case will be caught, even the asymptomatic ones.
Worst of all, the NFL says teams with Covid outbreaks among non-vaccinated players will have to forfeit cancelled games if they can’t be rescheduled. In that scenario, they would be slapped with a loss, and no players would get paid.
Imagine if the Patriots missed the playoffs by one game, because an unvaccinated player spread the virus to his teammates.
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer expressed his exasperation this week when Kirk Cousins, who’s unvaccinated, contracted Covid, and took his two backups to the NFL’s reserve/Covid-19 list with him.
The NFL’s rules are authoritarian, but they’re also working. As of Wednesday, 93 percent of NFL players had gotten at least one shot. Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill admitted the policies forced him to get the vaccine. “I think the NFL kind of made clear what they want to happen, and if you don’t fall in line, they’re going to try to make your life kind of miserable with those protocols,” he said.
It was bad enough last year when players with Covid couldn’t play or practice. Newton contracted the virus in Week 4, and as a result, the Patriots were forced to start Brian Hoyer at quarterback in a big game against the Chiefs. The overmatched veteran was abysmal, and the Patriots got blown out.
When Newton returned, his play started to resemble Hoyer’s on that bizarre Monday night. At one point, Newton said he “felt stagnant” in his “thought process” after coming down with Covid.
The former MVP threw for six touchdowns and eight interceptions over his final 12 contests, good for an uninspiring 80.6 QB rating. He was much better in his first three games, which included a 397-yard effort against the Seahawks.
Newton’s NFL career is on the line, thanks to his wretched play to close out last season. Not being vaccinated would only make life harder for him.
But as Newton says, that’s a personal matter. Unfortunately, his personal choice could impact everybody else on the team.
It would be another reason why he isn’t the best person for the starting job.
