As 2020 training camp continues for the New England Patriots, newest addition Cam Newton is impressing head coach Bill Belichick.
While Bill Belichick has refused to name a starter at this time, he is giving Newton high praise. As training camp progresses, it seems like Belichick is really pleased with what Newton brings to the table.
In speaking to the media on Monday, the coach raved about the quarterback’s work ethic, competitiveness, and personality. In particular, his work ethic is something that is impressing the coach. If Newton wants to start for the New England Patriots, impressing Belichick is certainly going to work in his favor.
“Some players like to work on things that they’re good at, like if you’re strong on a bench press, then you just keep throwing more weight on the bench. But Cam is the type of player that works on things that he’s not as good at and really tries to improve on a daily basis, and that’s something that I really respect about him. That’s not easy for players — really any of us — to do. Look at something that we don’t feel like we’re very good at or it is not one of our strengths and put extra time into it. I would say that is a natural tendency to do things you’re good at. He’s worked extremely hard in all those areas.
“He’s got a great personality. He gets along with everybody. He’s very social and has a great presence, whether it is in a small room of a couple people or in a bigger group, and he’s highly competitive. He’s very, very competitive on the field. He always wants to do his best and do better than the guy he’s competing against. You see that from — everybody’s competitive — but I think there are different degrees of it, and it looks like, based on what I’ve seen, I would put him in the top echelon of that.
“But his competition extends way beyond the field. It’s off the field and in meetings and training and so forth. It’s important for him to be the first guy up the hill when we run sprints, and it’s important to him to be first in everything that he competes in. You can see the effort and the amount of energy that he puts into that. I’d say those are some of the things that have jumped out in the month or so that we’ve been here in person.”
There were some concerns and initially about whether Belichick and Newton’s styles would mess. So far, that does not seem to be a problem at all. With Newton adjusting to his new surroundings, this is proving to be a good match for both parties as the season gets closer.
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