New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton no longer looks like the steal of the season.
After a strong first few weeks to begin the year, Newton’s performance has tapered off in recent weeks and on Monday, he was benched again in a 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Newton was pulled in the third quarter after completing 5 of 10 passes for 34 yards.
Newton said he was frustrated with the lack of results given how much he has put in with the Patriots, who signed the former MVP to a league-minimum contract this past offseason. He confirmed an ESPN broadcast account that he wakes up at 4:20 a.m., leaves for the facility at 4:30 a.m. and doesn’t go to bed until 11:30 p.m. each day.
“That’s been my schedule for 90 percent of the time I’ve been here,” Newton told reporters. “So you can kind of understand the frustration I do have when I don’t have the outcome, because I’m sacrificing so much. [You’re] talking to a person who ain’t seen his kids in three months. Obviously the contract is what it is. Submitting myself to this team is something I’ve been doing since day one. Being accessible. Yeah, it’s frustrating. It makes you mad. It makes you angry knowing that to be a trusted teammate you first have to submit to authority and submit to what the coaches are asking you to do. I feel like I have done that.
“I’m not in the place of blame. I’m more or less venting right now because, yeah, I’ve sacrificed so much this year. I mean, it hurts when you have the outing that you have tonight, just to go home, then start it over for a whole ’nother week, yeah.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said he has not decided who will start the team’s Week 17 game against the New York Jets. New England replaced Newton with Jarrett Stidham.
The Patriots are just 6-9 this season and will miss the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.
After multiple injuries helped lead to his release in Carolina, Newton had hoped the Patriots would be an opportunity to revitalize his career. But in 14 starts, Newton has completed 65.4% of his passes for 2,415 yards, five touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Newton is not signed beyond this year.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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