Patriots training camp: Cam Newton, Pats bog down in two-minute offense

Cam Newton has been putting in the work and getting the playbook down. He admits there are areas he needs to work on. That he can make some changes at the line but he's still learning it all.

Newton's accuracy has been an issue so far. Somedays he's up, other days not so much. On Wednesday, there was a period where Newton was overthrowing his pass catchers and if he wasn't throwing so hard, he would've had several interceptions but the defenders could only hang on to one.

His inaccurate and rifle arm are two reasons that people wanted him to earn his spot. It's great that he's throwing the ball so hard that defenders cannot catch it but it's bad that he's throwing it so hard it's going past his guys. Newton also has given some concern with ball security, as he was mad to run a lap the other day after a fumble.

Phil Perry of NBC said although Newton's show progress he's got some way to go. Perry wrote about Newton, "(He's) far from perfect. That's been evident over the course of the last few days as the Patriots have held multiple two-minute drill practice periods. It's in those moments when things have looked chaotic for Newton and the Patriots. It's in those moments the execution has been lacking."

Over the last three days during the hurry up drills, Newton has gone 10 of 23. He's been sacked 5 times, thrown 1 interception, had several near interceptions (blame the defense), and shown he's has accuracy issues. Especially when being hurried. 

Newton admits he made mental mistakes and he still has room for improvement. That Hoyer and Stidham have better command over the offense. Which is good to see him admit, while his fans ignore his flaws and the media has crowned him the starter.

Hoyer may have better command but like Newton, the only thing keeping Hoyer's interceptions down are defensive drops. Something Belichick will have to correct, as that was part of what made the 2019 team so special.

Don't think I'm gonna let Stidham off. The second year quarterback. While Stidham has been accurate as he recovers, being near perfect the past two days and keeping his completion percentage above 72% this camp; he has frustrated the team. 

Stidham's accuracy dipped from the 18th to the 20th because Stidham hid an injury from the team that he suffered on the 17th. Over those three days, Stidham could not properly plant his leg or use good throwing mechanics. Due to that, Stidham has changed the course of this competition.

For the people who ended the competition before it started and already declared Newton the starter, Henry McKenna said this about Stidham. "That doesn’t mean that acknowledging Stidham’s relevance is wrong. His odds are getting worse. But he’s not out yet.”

Thanks to Stidham, Newton is getting a lot more reps and while Newton is doing enough to be the frontrunner, he's also making enough mistakes to keep it a competition. As long as Newton struggles in the areas he is and Stidham continues to improve and heal, this competition will continue. 

Chris Cwilk of Yahoo sports wrote, “Stidham’s injury opens the door for Cam Newton to take over as the team’s starter. That always felt like the most probable outcome considering Newton’s status as a former MVP, but a rumor emerged that the team could utilize a two-quarterback platoon in 2020."

Evan Lazar of CLNS, also weighted in and I kinda agree with him. "The starting job competition is likely over, but Stidham could make things interesting if he gets back to full-speed drills."

Newton maybe the frontrunner but as Jerry Glanville used to say, "You know what NFL stands for? Not for long, that's what!" One should not be surprised if the competition lasts until the last day of camp on the 6th of September. There's a lot of time left and in the NFL anything can happen.