When Tom Brady left in 2020, the New England Patriots faced an extremely challenging task. After years of unprecedented success, they had to replace a six-time Super Bowl winner. Cam Newton was the chosen one, but his experience as the Patriots’ starting quarterback lasted only one year.
Selected first overall by the Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton spent nine years in Carolina before moving to Foxborough. During his time in New England, Newton threw for 2657 yards, 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 15 games.
Fans may not have great memories of that campaign, as the Patriots failed to make the playoffs for the first time in a while. But what Newton regrets the most is not having the opportunity to play in front of them at Gillette Stadium due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
“My biggest regret from New England is the fact that I didn’t play in front of the fans,” Newton said on his 4th & 1 show, via PatriotsWire. “Because me being me, I feed off of the energy of people, whether it’s a ‘boo!’, whether it’s a ‘ooh’, whether it’s a ‘ahh!’ or a ‘nahh! I feed off of that and I use that. And when we was in them stadiums and it was empty, they was pumping crowd noise, I’m like, ‘Man, this is weak.’“
Patriots still have questions at quarterback
It took only one year for the Patriots to realize Cam Newton was not their guy. But to be fair, Brady set the bar extremely high. That’s why, even three years later, the team is still uncertain whether it’s going in the right direction with Mac Jones.
Bill Belichick handed the Alabama product the offensive reins shortly after selecting him in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. In fact, that meant the end of Newton’s time in New England. Jones made a good impression in his rookie year, giving the Patriots reasons to believe they were in safe hands.
Apart from throwing for 3,801 yards, 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 17 games, Jones led the franchise back to the postseason. That was the Patriots’ first playoff appearance in the post-Brady era.
But the Buffalo Bills brought them back to Earth fast, as they handed Belichick’s team a 47-17 loss in the Wild Card. Still, the Patriots were intrigued with what they saw of their rookie quarterback. The problems started the following season.
Jones took many steps back in 2022, as his job even looked in danger with rookie signal-caller Bailey Zappe performing well in a couple of starts. The second-year quarterback finished the campaign with 2997 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 14 games. The Patriots missed the playoffs with an 8-9 record.
Jones is under the microscope in 2023
The Patriots QB situation made headlines throughout the offseason, and the team’s slow start to the 2023 season only fueled the questions surrounding Jones. While the recent win over the Bills helped to silence the doubters for a while, the team still has a lot to prove.
Until their Week 7 victory over Buffalo, the unit led by Jones had failed to score more than 20 points in each of their first six games. With 101 points, only the Giants (85) and Bengals (100) are below the Patriots in 2023.
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Should the Patriots keep Mac Jones as QB1 in the future?
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As for Jones, he threw for 1,480 yards along with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in seven weeks. But he’s been struggling for consistency so far. After throwing for five TDs and two INTs in the first three games, Jones went the next three weeks with no touchdowns and got picked five times. But then again, he bounced back with strong play against the Bills. Either way, the Patriots are still 2-5, so they will continue under the microscope the rest of the year.
