After literally laughing at the idea that there was a post-Tom Brady competition for quarterback this summer in New England, former NFL wide receiver and current ESPN radio host Keyshawn Johnson has made it clear that he thought Cam Newton was going to have immediate success. with the Patriots.
“Stop you all,” Johnson said of reports Newton was uninsured of the job, laughing at the start of a Thursday afternoon interview with the Ordway, Merloni and Fauria Show on WEEI . “Wink wink. Yeah sure. At the end of that, I think it’s a great choice. I think the beauty of Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick is that I wasn’t a big fan of head coach Josh McDaniels when he was in Denver. But I love what he does from an offensive standpoint. He puts people in the right position to make plays, taking advantage of mismatches and doing some of those things. I think he’s really good at that. But I also think he’s been with Bill for so long that he’s going to know what to do with a guy like Cam Newton.
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Johnson referred to the 2008 Patriots’ 11-5 season when Brady was lost in Game 1 to a torn ACL and wondered what Belichick could accomplish with a fully prepared quarterback for the season.
“Now he puts Cam Newton on his knees. And if he did 11-5 with Matt Cassel and Cam Newton, it’s much better than Matt Cassel has ever been, that they’re going to work magic together. It won’t be the same offensively, it’s going to be designed differently but they have something to work with that they never had before. Now they have the opportunity to make adjustments and not try to plug it in like a plug and go like they would in other positions.
“Certainly Matt Cassel did some things to win these games. But Matt Cassel is not Tom Brady and he is certainly not Cam Newton, ”Johnson added later.
Johnson, a clear fan of Newton and what he brings to New England, explained that having a different quarterback with different makeup for the first time in 20 years presented a chance for a new look and a new life. for the Patriots attack.
“It gives you the opportunity to do different things,” Johnson said of Newton’s skills. “Because Tom Brady certainly does things differently and probably better than Cam Newton in certain situations. But I can almost guarantee you that Cam Newton does things much better than Tom Brady ever would. And I’m not just talking about running. I’m talking about being able to escape the pocket, being able to gain more time, all these kinds of things that are given to him that weren’t given to Tom Brady, which is his legs and his strength and all that. kind of stuff. So when you’re a coach and you have that at your disposal, you use it. And you say, ‘OK, instead of this particular piece on second and 9th that I would do with Tom Brady, because I have Cam Newton, I can call this piece that I wish I had followed with Tom Brady. . ”
Beyond skills and production on the pitch, there have been questions about how Newton might fit into Belichick and the so-called Patriot Way. Newton himself admitted upon hearing of New England’s interest in signing him that his first reaction was to wonder how he would go along with his new head coach.
“Bill Belichick had different personalities before. Cam Newton is not the first different personality. The man coached Lawrence Taylor, ”Johnson said on OMF. “He coached Corey Dillon and Randy Moss. So it’s about 17,000 years old. So he knows the personalities. I think a lot of times too many people, not just in New England but outside, get caught up in the Patriot Way. There is no Patriot Way. If you win and the coach is coaching and you believe in what that coach is doing and showing you that they are winning, there is no problem. If you go back and think of all the players who joined the New England Patriots, think what kind of teams they came from. Corey Dillon was from the sad Bengals of Cincinnati. So sad, right? So sad. He went to a program he knew, “Dude, I’m getting ready to win.” So there were no problems. Randy Moss. Sad Raiders, so sad. Then he went to New England. No way out. Because I win. I understand that this culture doesn’t just sell me a bag of merchandise as a used car salesman. He really knows what he’s talking about. And that’s what is about to happen with Cam Newton. So there is no problem.
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