Bill Belichick won’t waver in his confidence in quarterback Cam Newton, not even after the New England Patriots’ loss that sunk the team’s playoff chances to just 6%.
Belichick was asked for the second time in two days whether New England would consider moving from Newton to Jarrett Stidham. Belichick didn’t seem to appreciate the persistence from reporters.
“Cam’s our quarterback,” the Patriots coach said after the game on Thursday.
Are you sure, even after watching the game film?
“I’ve answered that for the last time,” Belichick said Friday.
Perhaps Belichick is giving Newton the benefit of the doubt on an unimpressive roster, which the Patriots coach has said is a product of the team selling out to win during Tom Brady’s final years. New England is still carrying Brady’s contract on the cap — yes, the ghost of Brady still haunts this Patriots team. Antonio Brown still consumes salary cap space in 2020 — another indicator that things have gone very wrong in Belichick’s plan to rebuild the receiver position. The fact that N’Keal Harry, a 2019 first-round pick, might have had his best game as a Patriot in Week 13 (3 catches, 49 yards) is another sad testament to his off-kilter developmental trajectory. And while Belichick invested two third-round picks in the tight end position in 2020, he had zero talent ready to play this season.
He can see it, just like we can.
So perhaps that’s why Belichick didn’t criticize Newton for his pick-six on Thursday night. Newton said after the game he should have turfed the pass, a wide throw to James White on a screen pass. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald clung to White to disrupt the timing of the play — that was enough for White to be in the wrong place and Rams linebacker Kenny Young to get into the right place. Young intercepted Newton’s errant pass and took it to the end zone for a touchdown.
“He could’ve thrown it into the ground, but I don’t know why he would’ve thrown it into the ground,” Belichick said. “Bad call at the bad time — the results were what they were.”
That almost sounds like Belichick is pointing at the coaching staff — and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, in particular — for the mistake. Regardless, Belichick has seemed ready to excuse Newton for most mistakes this season — even with 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham waiting for (and, perhaps, not seizing) an opportunity. It would make some sense for New England to give Stidham a look, now that the Patriots are essentially out of the playoff hunt. But Belichick won’t do that, even though he put Stidham into the game in the fourth quarter Thursday night. Belichick said that decision wasn’t about development.
“We’re trying to win the game,” he said.
That’s an inconsistency. Belichick said Newton is their quarterback, but at that point, Stidham gave the Patriots the best chance to win. It doesn’t add up. In Week 15, they’ll go back to Newton. So what has Stidham showed the team?
“Jarrett’s done everything we’ve asked him to do and done everything he can do. You can’t ask for anything more,” Belichick said.
Again, that’s inconsistent. Belichick praised Stidham’s status as a rising player, and said he’s meeting all the Patriots’ demands. And yet he has not yet risen to the status of starter, not even with the current starter struggling.
Belichick won’t ever throw his quarterbacks under the bus in public criticism. He didn’t with Brady. But he has a tricky situation to manage in the coming weeks. On one hand, he can stick with Newton, a free agent in 2021, in the event the Patriots hope to retain the veteran for another year as a bridge quarterback. On the other hand, the Patriots should probably see what Stidham can do — especially if he’s actually impressing the coaches, like Belichick said.
It’s not as if Belichick might move on from Newton next week, when the Patriot’s playoff odds are likely to slip to zero. Belichick said he won’t answer the question again, thus implying Newton will be the quarterback for the rest of the season. Stidham will sit behind Newton for three more games, and the Patriots, apparently, will use those three games to evaluate what he can offer them before they make their enormously challenging decision of how they’d like to fill their quarterback depth chart for 2021.
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