Patriots: Cam Newton’s leadership fully on display with N’Keal Harry comments

Patriots QB Cam Newton continues to fit in seamlessly as a leader.

Cam Newton’s debut as the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots couldn’t have gone much better. He was the team’s best player against the Miami Dolphins in the Week 1 victory, and clearly isn’t feeling any pressure after succeeding Tom Brady after a two-decade reign.

More importantly, Newton’s become an unquestioned leader for the Pats, which was first made official when his teammates voted him as captain at the end of training camp. That proved to be the right move, because the former MVP continues to say the right things when discussing the team’s miscues.

One of those was N’Keal Harry’s costly fumble out of the back of the end zone, which really set the Patriots back. Instead of making it a 21-3 game, the fumble allowed the Dolphins to stay alive, drive down the field, and make it a 14-11 game. Was that a sweat for Newton? Not at all. He talked to Harry about it immediately after, and then was supportive of the second-year wideout when speaking with the media.

The candor here is pretty astonishing. How many players do we see reveal this much information and hit all angles of a tough situation? Not many. With that being said, this isn’t anything new for the former Panthers QB. In Carolina, the only veteran pass catchers he had were Steve Smith and Greg Olsen, with Smith only being there a few years.

Other than that, Newton, even as an inexperienced NFL player, was tasked with mentoring plenty of others in the same situation. One of the biggest issues during his tenure with the Panthers was that he never really had a No. 1 wideout, which is evident when you realize who he mentions here: Kelvin Benjamin, DJ Moore, Devin Funchess, Curtis Samuel, Corey Brown and current Patriot Damiere Byrd.

More importantly, when you consider the differences in leadership between Newton and Brady, especially when it comes to younger players, it’s obvious Newton has a better handle on it, at least in terms of giving quotes to the media. It was clear in 2019 that Brady didn’t entrust Harry whatsoever, and his failure to develop a rapport and perhaps work harder to make it easier on the rookie, who missed the first 10 weeks of the season, played a role in the offense taking a major step back.

Newton taking on that burden while learning a completely new system shows exactly the kind of player he is, and the Patriots couldn’t have asked for a better quarterback to help fans move on from the franchise’s greatest player.

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