New England Patriots’ Josh McDaniels Not Wavering On Cam Newton’s Passing Game

“Absolutely.”

That would be New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ response when asked whether he still has full confidence in Cam Newton’s abilities as a passer.

“The passing game is a function of a lot of people doing things right,” McDaniels told reporters during his Tuesday conference call. “I know the quarterback is the centerpiece of throwing the football, but you don’t throw the ball well without everybody doing their job right and without putting the players in a position to be successful.”

The 31-year-old Newton went 9-of-18 in that department Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals.

His 84 passing yards and 23.6 passer rating both marked career lows dating back to his NFL arrival with the Carolina Panthers in 2011. And along the way were both tipped and errant interceptions by outside linebacker Markus Golden and cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick in what became a 20-17 win for New England.

“Passing the football has never been a one-man’s job,” added McDaniels. “It will never be that way. We’ve got to do a good job of executing as a group, as a unit, and I’ve got to do a good job of trying to be able to put them in a position to do that.”

According to Next Gen Stats, Newton averaged 3.9 air yards on completions and saw his longest one travel an air distance of 27.7 yards versus Arizona. His expected completion clip checked in 12.7% higher than his actual.

It aligned with what the team captain said postgame, after a personal foul by Cardinals rookie linebacker Isaiah Simmons brought veteran kicker Nick Folk within range to split the uprights.

“I said in the locker room, I’d rather have an ugly win rather than a pretty loss, if that makes any sense,” Newton shared on his video conference Sunday. “I don’t know if that even exists.”

As former undrafted wide receivers Jakobi Meyers and Damiere Byrd caught the lone passes for gains, it did.

The margin for error remains slim for a New England offense that averaged 3.5 yards per play versus an Arizona defense had been allowing 5.5 yards per play. But McDaniels knows there are more plays to go with Newton, who signed a $1.05 million contract carrying $550,000 guaranteed in June and stands with the second-highest completion percentage of his NFL tenure.

“He listens to coaching very well. He takes great notes. He tries to work on the areas of the game that we’ve addressed and tries to point out what we can make progress and improve on,” added McDaniels. “And he’s pretty consistent as a human being. Again, I think that’s part of what makes him a good leader. He comes into the building every day. He’s got a positive outlook and a positive frame of mind. He’s got good energy. He’s been through these before.”

Newton had gone four consecutive starts without throwing an interception before Sunday. And during his previous start, the 2015 NFL MVP eclipsed 300 yards through the air in defeat against the Houston Texans for the first time since nearly eclipsing 400 against the Seattle Seahawks in September.

The Patriots now enter December with a record of 5-6. Newton enters it having thrown for 1,984 yards with four touchdowns and nine picks. He has rushed for an additional 397 yards, and his nine scores on the ground rank behind only Arizona’s Kyler Murray for the league lead at the position.

There have been glimpses of all the parts together.

“He’s had a day that’s been great and then a day that’s been less than what he was looking for,” said McDaniels. “He’s been able to bounce back from those and continue to surge forward and try to continue to play good football and help us win. The best part about Cam Newton is the only statistic he cares about is the one in the win column.”

That will be subject to change at SoFi Stadium, where the Patriots are set to visit the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams in a span of four days.