Newton must pass the calculus
McDaniels confident former MVP will catch up to speed
For a quarterback, learning and grasping an NFL playbook isn’t particularly easy. And that’s just the playbooks for all teams not residing in Foxboro.
The Patriots’ book is in a category all its own. It’s one Tom Brady ultimately mastered, and knew cover to cover, during the nearly two decades he was under center for New England.
But even quick study Brady made note Thursday, of how difficult the process of learning a new playbook can be if you’re not dedicated to cracking all the codes and understanding all the nuances. That’s what he’s currently dealing with in Tampa.
“I really haven’t had to do that in 19 years,” he said of studying Bruce Arians’ offense, “so you forget, ‘Man, that’s really tough.’’’
If Brady thinks it’s tough, how about Cam Newton, who is also trying to get a handle on his new offense in a much speedier fashion?
While Brady’s had the Buccaneers playbook in his possession the past four months, Newton hasn’t had it in his hands nearly as long. He’s barely had it a month with the start of the season a month away.
So when the Patriots get on the field next week for unpadded practices, Newton won’t exactly be hitting the ground running. It’s just not possible in that short window of time.
And that’s not even taking into account Newton’s best method of learning, which was chronicled by Albert Breer in Sports Illustrated last year. Newton is a “visual learner,” who carries around a special binder loaded with tips and reminders to help with the process.
Classroom learning doesn’t always make it work for him. He needs to see it, to grasp it.
No wonder he recently posted on Instagram a picture of himself studying the Patriots’ offensive bible, while also providing the warning Julian Edelman gave him before diving in.
“This s–t calculus!” Newton wrote.
Here’s the point: There may be nothing more important to the Patriots’ fortunes than Newton being able to solve that calculus. If he can’t get himself up to speed with the playbook — to perform such basic tasks as calling out the ‘Mike’ linebacker or audibling to a different play if his read of the defense calls for it — that will hinder the offense and any expectation for the team. Maybe it will even force Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer on the field.
While it’s still early in the process given the Patriots have yet to be out on the field, Newton said Friday during a video conference he wasn’t too worried about the task ahead. He seemed confident in his ability to be a quick study and competently lead the Patriots offense.
Any why not? In the field of quarterbacks “competing” for the Patriots starting job, Newton’s experience as a starter, especially in big games, trumps all. He knows that, but he also knows he can’t just wing it with the offense on a Bill Belichickcoached team.
“At the end of the day, football is still football and you just can’t make too much on it, than what it already is,” he said of the playbook. “Josh (McDaniels) has been there every step of the way as well as Coach (Jedd Fisch). Just been hammering away. All the quarterbacks have been trying to learn this whole system from what it is.”
For Stidham’s part, he acknowledged when he came in last year as a rookie, the offense “was foreign” to him. He just kept plugging away at it with all the offseason workouts before he finally felt somewhat comfortable during camp. Newton, meanwhile, hasn’t had the luxury to work out the kinks during the offseason. He didn’t arrive until the first week of July.
And while Newton may feel somewhat invigorated coming to a new place, and learning a new system, he knows the difficulty of the task in front of him, and didn’t try to sugarcoat it.
“I think I’ve got my hands full with trying to learn as much as I can in a short period of time and that’s what I’m trying to do,” he said. “I approach this day to day. Those guys have been unbelievable throughout this process. Also, just leaning on guidance from the teammates as well.”
Newton also acknowledged he has a different method of learning from most. But he vowed he wouldn’t be deterred.
“We all have our different methods of how we (learn) and go about different ways to retain as much information as possible,” he said. “I don’t think the binder (used in the past) is actually here, but some type of retention methods have adapted towards New England.”
McDaniels, who has had the closest interactions with Newton thus far, didn’t sound particularly worried about Newton’s learning or adapting skills. It’s certainly likely McDaniels will integrate new plays that will take advantage of Newton’s skill set, as well as Stidham’s, to a degree. But Newton is the only quarterback starting from scratch, and learning in crash-course fashion.
“He’s a smart football player. He’s played a lot of football. He’s seen a lot of stuff. Guys in our league rarely have the type of success that a player like he has had and this fast without understanding the game,” said McDaniels. “He learns well and we’re in the middle of this process of trying to get him caught up along with a lot of the new guys to learn what we want him to do, we’ll just keep working at it every day.”
While McDaniels sounded upbeat about Newton picking up the offense, he did acknowledge the process might be a little different to get his new quarterback up to speed.
“We have a whole bunch of guys on our offense and in our room and they don’t all learn the same and they’re not all obviously at the same point in terms of how much of this have they been subjected to,” said McDaniels. “I think what’s really important for us to figure out how they learn best and then to make sure that we’re teaching in that direction when we’re speaking to them and we’re putting them in situations to try to improve and get better.”
The clock is ticking, especially on Newton.