FOXBOROUGH — I have no idea what's going to happen with the Patriots and their quarterback position this summer. And neither, really, do they, if they were being honest. Anything can happen. And a lot of it will be determined on the practice field in August.
You can have this or that preconceived notion about what you think Bill Belichick is going to do about Cam Newton and Mac Jones come the season opener, but there's no reason to believe you're going to be more right than the next person. We are literally in uncharted waters when it comes to the Patriots and the quarterback position in whole host of ways, including how high Jones was drafted and the fact the Patriots coming off their first losing season in 20 years.
But if you've seen the practices to this point — five of them in front of the media — especially the first two days of mandatory mini-camp this week, you would have come away with an unmistakable feeling that Jones is being groomed to lead this team at some point. Whether it's Week 1 or Week 8 or Week 1 in 2022 ... that all depends on circumstances and, really, it doesn't matter.
And Tuesday seemed to be the day it hit home with Newton, not that he would tell anybody. If we've learned anything about Newton, it's that he has been the consummate professional in his time in Foxborough, and that also goes for behind the scenes as well. He's just been phenomenal from a team perspective. I mean, just look at this quote he gave about his reaction to Jones being drafted.
"He was the right pick, you know what I’m saying, in my opinion," Newton said. "He was the best player available and that is what the NFL Draft is for. As far as having any chip on the shoulder, I mean, you’re stating the obvious. I don’t need too much to get myself going, let alone that happening. And it’s no disrespect to Mac. It’s no disrespect to Bill and his decision. I support it 110% because you still have to do what’s right for the organization, for the long haul. ... No matter who is out there, we’re going to push each other to get better and that is what we’re expecting to do.”
But something happened on Tuesday and it seemed significant ... and Newton seemed to understand it as well.
The practice started much the same way as any other. Newton took the first reps, Jones the second, Jarrett Stidham got a few, and then Brian Hoyer got the scraps. That's the way it went until about midway through practice.
Then they broke into 7 on 7s and Newton got three reps, all of them checkdowns. Then Jones got five reps and was completely surgical in the red zone, throwing three touchdowns and his only incompletion was hit by a paddle, or else it would have been another TD.
Much of the time Belichick was watching the quarterbacks and in deep conversation with Ernie Adams, who was very demonstrative during the discussions. Not sure I've ever seen Adams that talkative or animated. Have no idea what they were talking about, but it was noteworthy.
Then the big moment happened. They broke into three groups. Newton and Jones worked with offensive lines and running backs with blitz pickup against front sevens. Stidham and Hoyer threw to receivers and some tight ends on the other end. And for the second straight day, Jones — who was by far the best quarterback in a steady rain on Monday — spent his period working with the first-team offensive line. Newton was again with the second-team line.
Something else significant happened during this period. Belichick, Adams, Josh McDaniels (who also spent an entire period early in practice with Jones and the tight ends) and Matt Patricia — basically the entire Patriots on-field power structure — was watching Jones and his group.
Newton was over on the other field with the backup line and a few positional coaches. It looked like the 16-year-old cousin being forced to sit at the kids' table at the family holiday dinner, while his younger sibling somehow was seated at the adults' table.
When the team started 11-on-11 drills, Newton got the first three reps and it was clunky. Threw a near interception not close to Kendrick Bourne. Completed a short one to Hunter Henry, and then had an aborted screen that Newton may have made a mistake on.
Newton was replaced by Jones, who got the next eight reps, including when they switched to red zone. During this time, Newton was mostly off by himself, separate from the other QBs and any other teammates. He was just off by himself. Newton's noticeable energy that was present earlier in practice? It was gone.
From the time 11-on-11s started until the end of practice, Newton got 15 reps (eight completions). Jones had 26 (17 completions, 2 drops, 2 INTs).
I'll just tell you that I have no idea what this means. I'm just telling you what I saw.
To me, it was significant. I'm not ready to tell you this marked the moment of Jones' ascension to becoming the Patriots' starting QB, and/or the beginning of the end for Newton, but it felt different. I've seen QB battles at Dolphins training camps. I watched Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers share the same practice field. I've seen Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo practicing together. This was different.
Let's talk this through for a second.
You have a veteran quarterback in Newton who we all, including Belichick, will concede got the short end of the stick last season coming in late, dealing with Covid protocols, and getting Covid himself during the season.
So he comes back for Year 2 and the team and Newton understand he has much to learn, both when it comes to the playbook but also just reps on the practice field. This has been talked about ad nauseum.
"He was certainly at a point when he got here that was a unique situation, having really no experience and exposure to our system prior to training camp starting. I honestly can't remember another time in my career where we've had a player that has done that. Even the rookies that get drafted, they get information prior to the end of the spring," McDaniels said of Newton a few weeks ago. "So it was a unique scenario. He worked his butt off last year to do it and then he came back certainly this year at a much different position. He has a different grasp of the offense, a different understanding of the terminology. And now we're working on refining the precision, the details, and I always talk to the quarterbacks about trying to master the operation and the things we need them to do. And there's always work to be done in that area. I don't care what quarterback you're talking about, there's always work to be done."
So if Newton, who is almost a rookie himself when it comes to the Patriots system, was on his way to being the no-doubt starter for this team, wouldn't you give him all the reps and attention you could? Wouldn't Jones, if he's a ways away, being on a secondary field with QB coach Bo Hardegree?
Why, in possibly the last on-field practice before training camp (in year's past the Patriots would have used a practice by now to conduct a fun, team-bonding excursion and that could wipe out Wednesday's practice; perhaps the lost Covid year/lack of veteran attendance in OTAs shelved that and they go again Wednesday), would you give the majority of reps and attention to a rookie you have no intention of starting anytime soon? It's not like Newton couldn't use the reps.
Unless you're just completely stuck in your position, you can't watch what has transpired in the last five practices and not conclude that at the very least, the Patriots are testing Jones right now to see if it will be worth the time and reps to allow him to compete for the starting job in camp (the answer to that from these practices would be ... hell yes).
Most likely, the Patriots are trying to overload Jones with information right now — because he's done so well rebounding and pushing through in the next practice even when he struggles with some things — to make sure that's he's been exposed to just about everything in order to compete, if not win, the job from Day 1 in late July.
Look, don't make the mistake of any of this meaning that Jones is going to win the job or be a good rookie QB. Certainly, Jones looks light years ahead of previous rookie Patriots QBs, but that's not saying much. Does he appear to have some of the subtleties — a shoulder fake here, a quick trigger on an outlet pass there, and the ability to diagnose a pressure — that Newton and Stidham haven't come close to showing? Absolutely. But there are still times where he throws off his back foot and the ball takes forever to get there (perhaps his arm could be a bit fatigued from five practices in about the last week)? Yes, an entire period of that today. Are there times he's going to be picked off? Yup, twice in three throws by Dont'a Hightower (ridiculous ups and timing) and Kyle Van Noy (tip at the line). Will he just flat-out get a play wrong and get sacked? Yes, probably.
But those are all things that can and will be coached out of him at some point, to some extent. Before this offseason, it might have been wise to think that would happen later rather than sooner. But after seeing what has happened on the practice field, especially during Tuesday's session, Belichick seems to have torn up that timeline.
It looks like Mac Jones is all systems go for, at the very least, a QB competition in training camp.