FOXBOROUGH, Mass. New England Patriots full-back Cam Newton has admitted he did not have the 2020 season he was hoping for, but has stopped saying he would accept a backup role as he considers free agent options outside the season.
“Honestly, it’s too early to tell. It’s as honest as I can be,” Newton said Monday in his weekly interview on sports radio WEEI in Boston. “Do I think I have a starting talent? Absolutely. Do I think a lot of things I did were devalued? Not the perspective of the team, probably the media’s perspective – absolutely.”
Newton, 31, added that he understands that quarterbacks are under strong scrutiny and that it is not a task for the “weak” before he says: “I just need a little time to really reevaluate myself . “
Newton saved one of his best performances for the final game of the 7-9 season of the Patriots. In Sunday’s 28-14 victory over the New York Jets, he was 21-out-30 for 242 yards, with three touchdowns and no interception. He ran 79 yards on 11 trucks – which included a 49-yard quarter-franchise record – and added a 19-yard touchdown catch.
“I know out of 32 guys, I’m not the 32nd position. So you also have to understand that I’m a competitor first. I know what my skill is, I know what my talent is. I understand that “if there is no one better than me. that’s how I will always feel. I also have to feel realistic about the opportunity being offered,” Newton said in the radio interview.
“If you ask me: Do I want to be a backup? Hell no! If I look at other teams and I look at other players playing, there were guys who have been getting away with murder for years because of subpar play. I have the right to say it with the year I had this year? No. But I’m going to be honest and say it, because that’s what I do.
Newton finished the year 242-of-368 (65.8%) for 2,657 yards, with eight innings and ten interceptions. He added 592 running yards on 137 vehicles (4.3 average), with 12 touches.
As for his possible return to New England in 2021, Newton said he had not yet spoken to coach Bill Belichick, although he resigned at his video conference last week that he would continue, citing plans to keep in touch with teammates in the future. He said Monday morning that it would be ‘remarkable’ if Belichick decided he wanted to return.
Newton said earlier that one of his biggest regrets was joining the Patriots after last season, which will be on his mind as he approaches the free agency.
“It’s definitely going to be eligible,” he said on WEEI. “I’m not going to wait until the last part of another season when I’m given the opportunity to do something or sign with someone. I think I’m putting myself at a disadvantage. [with] that. You just live and learn. ‘
Newton said one of his primary goals was to heal it through the season, which he achieved.
“Through it all, my shoulder held up, my foot up, mentally held up,” he said. “I had bruises, but who does not have scars and bruises in the NFL? Nothing that lingers enough to stop me. I’m going to take that as a blessing and do it in the off-season.”
Newton added that this is the first season in five or six years that he is healthy.
“Of course I have to work on my mechanics. Of course I have to throw the football rather than the last part of last year,” he said. “Those things, which I will be focused on, we will be focused on out of season.”