Patriots: Eagles defense chirping Cam Newton was uncomfortable sign

The 2021 New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will be intimately familiar with each other by the time this preseason week wraps up.

Both sides are battling in joint practices by day, studying film by night, and prepping for a Week 2 preseason game battle on Thursday evening, where New England will try to build on their impressive momentum from their “NFC East” opener against the Washington Football Team.

So far, it’s been a mixed back when these two sides have clashed.

Occasionally, the Patriots have been spotted burning Philly’s extremely burnable defense, leading to some Eagles enthusiasm being extinguished. Most of the time, though, it’s felt like Philadelphia’s MASH unit has shown off some unearned confidence whenever Cam Newton has stepped on the field.

We’re not certain when Mac Jones will get the go-ahead from the suits in charge, but if even the league’s most middling defenses can channel their energy into swarming Newton’s short passes, we might be looking at a swift adjustment.

Remind me, why is second-year DB K’Von Wallace proud enough to be bouncing around like this in Newton’s face. Also, why is he right?

Why are the Eagles chirping Patriots QB Cam Newton?

“Checkdown King”? The disrespect is very much real, and it’s coming from inside the house…because Bill Belichick invited these guys in.

The tweet above lacks sufficient context, because it makes it feel like the checkdowns were by design, in an effort to work on precision, but also were mock-able and were sniffed out repeatedly by the Eagles defensive backs. So which is it? Was Philly able to repeatedly jump Newton’s elementary routes, which we’d previously attributed to his shoulder injury rehab? Or is this just an underdog team trying to hype itself up during a joint practice?

Perhaps the trash-talking Philly defense isn’t the Patriots’ primary worry, either. If the secondary’s getting torched like this by Jalen Reagor, maybe it’s not such an elite unit on its own merits.

Bottom line, we’re going to continue to give Newton the benefit of the doubt, and accept that a version of the QB who’s fully healthy and all-the-way recovered from a deadly disease has another gear to reach.

If joint practices against a white bread defense are getting this predictable, though, that’s a bad sign.

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