(This was originally published on Patriots Wire.)
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels couldn’t get the best out of quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday in the New England Patriots’ 36-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders. But it’s not for lack of trying. And with help from running backs, McDaniels and Newton finished the Week 3 victory on a high note.
It seems this tandem really likes working together, with Newton suggesting that his time in New England has so far been “therapeutic.” And McDaniels has done nothing but praise Newton.
“Being 10 years in the league and doing all the things he has done, coming here and having no familiarity with our coaching style, our system, or the way we do things, I have been incredibly impressed with the way he’s embraced it,” McDaniels said Tuesday when asked about what it’s like coaching Newton. “He looks forward to it, really wants to be coached, wants to be great, wants to improve and is a great example for a lot of our younger players. I feel very comfortable coaching him, whether it is practice, meetings, games, walkthroughs because he is such a great listener and he takes nothing personal, which really there’s no part of coaching that is personal, it’s just about trying to correct and improve. He’s really done a nice job.”
Newton’s praise for the Patriots’ way of doing things has been consistent, even when addressing the challenging elements of the work. Bill Belichick’s Monday morning film sessions, for example, are one of those challenges. The coach generally tears into his players, whether they won or lost. But Newton said he looks forward to those sessions.
“He is very intuitive. At the end of the day, you just have to grow to love it and understand it,” Newton said Monday morning on an appearance on the “Greg Hill Show” on WEEI. “And that doesn’t necessarily make me nervous. I actually look forward to those meetings, because I do know one thing about coach Belichick is, he’s going to be 100 as 100 is. So you not taking the right steps to you not making a great play on this play — just not getting the job done. … The same Bill Belichick that you knew is the same Bill Belichick that I know. It’s just something that you have to love and respect out of him.”