Cam Newton Admits ‘Time Off Showed’ In Return From COVID List

Veteran quarterback Cam Newton spoke about his return on the field. The 2015 NFL MVP felt rusty when he joined the New England Patriots in Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos. The quarterback had his first game in three weeks. New England had placed him on the reserve/COVID-19 list and now he is ready to see some action. But things didn’t go that smooth for the veteran.

Newton had a speedy recovery. He was added to the active roster this past Wednesday. There were a few positive tests in the Patriots locker room, so Newton had just one practice before the match.

Cam Newton didn’t help the Patriots in his return to the field

The Patriots had some struggles in the game. Newton led a comeback, but this wasn’t enough to repair the damage players caused throughout the game.

Reporters asked Newton whether his time off has affected his performance.

“Oh, without a doubt,” the quarterback said. “But we’re still professionals. We’re expected to do our job and play at a high level, and we didn’t do that today. Any time you turn the ball over that many times, the success rate is extremely low. But yet, we still had an opportunity to win, and we’ve just got to find way to do that.”

Two of the Patriots three turnovers were Newton interceptions. An onrushing defensive tackle took care of the first one and a linebacker handled the second one. Newton showed poor pocket awareness on his four sacks, and one of these turned into a fumble that Pats players recovered.

Newton completed 17 of 25 passes for 157 yards and no touchdowns with a couple of picks in the loss. He finished with a passer rating of 51.6. Eight competitions and 65 of his yards happened on short passes to James White.

Byrd led Patriots wideouts with three catches on four targets for 38 yards. N’Keal Harry and Julian Edelman combined for two receptions on eight targets for 8 yards.

Newton didn’t share too many details on his COVID-19 battle.

“Honestly, for me right now, I’m just trying to move forward,” he said. “Obviously, respectfully, that was two weeks ago. I’m still bitter over the game and just trying to focus on what needs to just get better. Obviously, everybody knows what the situation was, and it is what it is. I just know for me, here moving forward, I’ve just got to play better football, and that’s what my job is.”