New England Patriots: 3 players Bill Belichick praised during the week
The New England Patriots once again dominated the headlines on cut-down day. In shaping up the 2021 53-man roster, Bill Belichick completely surprised everyone by cutting Cam Newton and in doing so naming rookie quarterback Mac Jones as the starting quarterback.
While turning to Jones was not shocking, parting ways with a player he has taken every opportunity to praise was the talk of the sports world on Tuesday. While there was some other surprise cut, the focus was on Cam and why the Patriots decided to part ways with the veteran quarterback.
Was it due to Newton’s COVID-19 vaccination status or was Mac Jones just that good in winning the starting job?
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gets defensive regarding Cam Newton release
It’s probably a bit of both, but more Newton’s irresponsibility that triggered the Patriots coach to make the ultimate decision to go with the 22-year-old kid over a veteran they may not have felt they can rely on. Obviously, Belichick wasn’t giving an answer this week when asked if Newton’s vaccination status caused his release.
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"“No, you guys keep talking about that, and I would just point out that I don’t know what the number is,” Belichick said during his press conference on Wednesday, via Patriots.com. “I mean, you guys can look it up. You have the access to a lot of information, but the number of players and coaches and staff members that have been infected by COVID in this training camp [ around the NFL] who have been vaccinated is a pretty high number, so I wouldn’t lose sight of that.”"
Other than that, Belichick stayed mum on his decision. He wouldn’t exactly say Jones outright won the job, but anyone witnessing the two at practice and even in the three preseason games could see Jones had better command of the offense, even as a rookie.
But Newton and Jones weren’t the only players the coach was asked about last week. Belichick had some good things to say about the following three players who could come to play big roles for the team in 2021.