Belichick praised Newton on a radio show.

Bill Belichick went on the Rich Eisen Show and talked about the Patriots. One of the things they talked about was former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Cam Newton signed with the Patriots late this summer and is in the middle of a quarterback competition.

When asked, Belichick said this about Newton."He's an extremely hard-working player; first guy in, last guy out. He's studied hard and has spent a lot of extra time learning the offense. I've been very impressed with that. He's a very skilled athlete."

Newton has been putting in the work, all three quarterbacks have. While Newton has improved, his accuracy is still sketchy and on Sunday, he showed he's still turnover prone and was made to do laps. 

Keep in mind, Gilmore also has had to miss some time from camp, or things could look worse for Newton. It has not been released why Gilmore has missed four straight practices but he will miss more time with covid protocols when he's ready to return. The rest of the defensive backs are good but beatable.

So what did we expect Belichick to say. Of course he's going to praise him. Did we expect Bill to say he's disappointed that Newton hasn't ran away with the competition or to talk about Newton needing to work on his accuracy and ball security skills? 

Due to the time and importance of this week, Newton will finally start to work largely with Edelman, Sanu, Harry, and Meyers instead of mainly working with the fourth, fifth, and sixth stringers. Those four will elevate Newton and hide Newton's accuracy issues, as Stidham battles his way back from injury and starts taking reps away from Hoyer and Newton. 

From analysts to former players, there has been people who've shown concern about Newton's ability to take criticism. Kyle Love a former Patriots and former teammate of Newton said Carolina was afraid to criticize Cam. So take Belichick's comments with a grain of salt.

There are still those that say Newton wasn't brought in to be a backup. In 2019, we heard the same comments about Michael Bennett. Bennett ended up being a backup who got traded to the Cowboys. Reason being Bill doesn't care about what you've done in the past. The past may get you signed, the present gets you on the field. Until Bill calls it, it's a competition. Bill said that when he was asked about Stidham in an attempt by Ben Viola to get Bill to give Cam the nod during his press conference monday. "2020 is a new season for all of us regardless of experience..."

As far as there not being a quarterback competition, I'll end with Belichick's thoughts on the subject from the Eisen show. “We’ve got a very competitive competition at a very competitive position at the quarterback spot. It will be interesting to see how everybody does.”