In many ways, Cam Newton’s lasting memory with Patriots teammates will be the same thing that people first talked about upon his arrival in New England last summer: Energy.
That’s exactly the word that Patriots captain James White brought up in a Zoom call with the local media just hours after word broke that Newton was being released by New England.
“He definitely brought energy to the locker room and on the practice field,” White said of Newton. “Definitely a guy who could lift the spirits in the room at any given time, as you can tell. He worked extremely hard. He tried to give his best each and every day. So, it was fun having him here over the past year or so. I hope he lands on his feet somewhere.”
Newton’s release by Bill Belichick was the biggest story of the morning on the day all NFL teams must cut rosters down to 53 players by 4 p.m. It sent shockwaves through the league and social media alike.
“On this day every year you never know what to expect,” White admitted. “There are a lot of transactions that go on across all 32 teams. So you never know what’s going to happen. Cam did his best job for us and he competed extremely hard. Obviously it’s unfortunate to see him go, but he’s a good football player I hope he gets another opportunity to land on his feet”
Fellow Patriots team captain David Andrews had a similar message when asked for his reaction to the Newton news.
“This is just a tough day in this business,” Andrews said. “There are a lot of guys, teammates that you have been familiar with and teammates for years or whatever it may be. It’s always a tough day in this business, unfortunately it’s just part of it.”
While both veterans will clearly always have respect for Newton and what he did for New England in the tumultuous 2020 season that saw Tom Brady depart and COVID shake up the entire world, they also clearly see good things from Mac Jones after the No. 15 overall pick won the starting job.
“You can tell he has what it takes from the first practice with him,” White said of Jones. “He’s constantly learning, constantly trying to improve. He’s tough on himself but I think he has high expectations for himself and when he comes into the huddle he wants to control the huddle and make sure that everyone who’s in there with him believes in him. He’s building confidence each and every day, trying to improve each and every day. Because there is a lot of stuff that a quarterback has to do. He’s constantly in the film room, constantly asking questions trying to find ways to improve.”
“Mac’s done a great job,” Andrews added. “He’s come in, worked really hard and he’s obviously done a lot of really good things like a lot of players this preseason. Again, those aren’t my decisions. I don’t know what goes into those factors, but obviously he’s done a great job which is expected of everybody.”
Newton brought energy and stature to fill a clear void after Brady’s departure, but now Jones is the one to lead New England into 2021 with his teammates gaining more confidence in the rookie by the day.
“He’s a guy, ever since OTAs, mini-camp, the beginning of training camp he’s been pushing himself,” White concluded of Jones. “He’s been getting more and more confident as you can probably tell out there on the practice field and in the games. He’s been working extremely hard. Playing quarterback as a rookie is definitely not easy, but he’s accepted the challenge, trying to push us, speaking up in the huddle, he’s just building that confidence more and more. And you just started to believe in him.”
