The New England Patriots’ offense has been historically tricky for skill players to learn.
Wide receivers, running backs and tight ends have all became frustrated and couldn’t stick with the team because of the difficulty of the playbook. Those difficulties are heightened to a completely different level when the person learning the playbook is also the commander of it. Tom Brady held the quarterback position down for 20 seasons, with intricate knowledge of every crevice the playbook carries.
Cam Newton, on the other hand, has been with the team through 13 weeks this season and still has some knowledge to obtain. The 31-year-old told reporters that he’s still learning this playbook as he goes.
“Honestly, I think what drives me is knowing that I have yet to play my best football,” Newton said, transcribed by WEEI. “Do I know certain things? Yes. Do you know how people are going to play you? No. And this game, I have always said it, it comes down to reacting and when that play is called – when Josh [McDaniels] gives the play call – that 40 seconds that you have to call the play, it really comes down to how do you react faster than the defense to executing.
Newton’s problem this season has been consistency and the Patriots don’t know what they’ll get on a weekly basis. It’s something he’s still working on.
“Have I done it consistently? Not to my liking, but I am getting there,” Newton continued. “It’s just a learning curve. It’s just learning each and every day in the famous words of a quote from Game of Thrones, ‘You know nothing, Jon Snow.’ That’s been my mentality each and every day. Just try and stay open-minded and learn as much as I possibly can because it may be some things and I understand how Josh works and it is so unbelievable to work with him because he makes so much in-game adjustments that you have to always to stay on your Ps and Qs because you will always say, ‘We went over that one time this week, coach. You can’t call that.’ That’s not how Josh works. He’s all about reacting to however the defense — whatever the defense gives him and you have to be ready to go and execute at a high level.
“With that being said, as far as adversity, as far as success, as far as what my expectation is, it never will change. I know that I don’t know enough and there’s also a side of me where I can say I came a long way in this system, but I am still learning. I think that is my [character] that each and every day I know that I have yet to play my best football and I am getting more and more comfortable all under the graces of obviously Dolla Bill [Bill Belichick], Mickey Ds [McDaniels] and coach Jedi [Jedd Fisch].”
Newton’s had stretches where he’s looked like the team’s future and stretches where he could be benched for Jarrett Stidham for the season. He’s on a one-year deal and these next four weeks will tell a lot about his future in New England.
[vertical-gallery id=90756]