Cam Newton: Patrick Mahomes is ‘changing the game’

“He’s shined a light on the new wave of quarterbacks, and it’s just fun to watch,” he said. “Not only that, but he has a lot of merit to what he does. It’s not like he’s just an arcade game … he knows exactly what he’s doing and how he’s manipulating the defenses.”

Newton compared Mahomes to players like Dan Marino, Tom Brady, and Aaron Rodgers – all quarterbacks who “have so much command of the offense that you dictate the defense.”

Newton will face off against Mahomes on Sunday when the Patriots travel to Kansas City for a 4:25 p.m. kickoff. It will be the first time the two quarterbacks face each other.

Newton acknowledged Thursday that he doesn’t have a lot of control over what happens to Mahomes.

“We just got to play Patriot football, simple. If we do that, control the line of scrimmage, stick to the key to win, we really can’t just focus on something we cannot control, and that’s been the defense,” he said.

“We know we have to play complementary football throughout this game, and I believe we’re stacking practices on top of practices and that gives us enough confidence going into the game on Sunday.”