Patriots Rumors: Cam Newton’s COVID absence may have sealed his fate

The New England Patriots sent shockwaves across the NFL landscape when they released Cam Newton leading up to Tuesday’s roster deadline.

While Mac Jones was going to take over the offense at some point, everyone suspected Newton would stick around around for mentorship purposes when he was ultimately supplanted by the promising first-round pick.

However, we never got to that point. Cam’s been canned and Jones will get the chance to start from Day 1 as a rookie.

So, what prompted the Patriots to cut the quarterback they repeatedly defended amid his struggles last year and re-signed this offseason when they could’ve netted a plethora of other serviceable gunslingers?

Well, per Jeff Howe of The Athletic, it all can be traced back to when Newton violated, albeit unintentionally, health and safety protocols and was forced to miss a crucial week of practice leading up to Sunday’s preseason finale.

Cam Newton’s COVID-19 situation might’ve sealed his Patriots fate.

"“Spoke to a couple sources yesterday about the QBs,” Howe tweeted on Tuesday. “They mentioned the importance Belichick places on joint practices, much more than the preseason games and how the rotation might not be as big of an indicator as we thought. And now, the Patriots are going with Mac Jones as QB1.”"

Think about how quickly this narrative flipped. Prior to Newton’s COVID-19 incident, he was being treated like the starter. However, his five-day absence gave Jones an opportunity to run the offense in a joint practice with the Giants. We can’t be certain, but Jones’ performance in that practice might’ve been the nail in Newton’s coffin.

At one point, Jones completed 14 consecutive passes and threw back-to-back touchdowns. Though he came back down to earth the following day, we get the feeling Bill Belichick made up his mind before Newton reported back to the team.

After all, Newton’s moratorium reportedly ruffled feathers within the Patriots organization, as it could’ve been avoided had he been vaccinated.

Getting beyond that bizarre incident, Newton’s vaccination status might’ve also played a hand in his release. Ask yourself this, Patriots fans: would Belichick really want his backup quarterback to be in jeopardy of missing time on the COVID list at the drop of a hat? Probably not, so that’s something else to consider.

While we can’t say for certain that Newton’s COVID-19 situation sealed his fate, there’s no other logical explanation given how highly Belichick thinks of him and that he was being treated like the starter just a few weeks ago.

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