New England Patriots

Cam Newton refuses to talk about abdominal injury, says it had no impact on his play

"It's not for me to talk about those type of things."

New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton runs off the field after a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. AP Photo/Ashley Landis

By Tom Westerholm

3 minutes to read

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A ready-made excuse exists for New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton’s struggles, but on Thursday — following a 24-3 loss to the Los Angeles Rams — Newton once again opted not to take it.

Newton has been nursing an abdominal injury that FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer said before the game has been much more painful than Newton will say.

“I am told that in fact he has been struggling with that abdominal injury,” Glazer said on the broadcast. “It’s caused him an awful lot of pain for the last couple of weeks here, but because they have the short week they forced him to rest, and as of a result of that today he felt better than he has the last few weeks.”

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Newton downplayed the injury when it was first reported before last week’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers, and he did so once again when he was asked after the Patriots’ loss to the Rams how much the abdominal issue affected him.

“None,” Newton said.

A second reporter followed up, noting Glazer’s comments and asking for Newton’s reaction.

“It’s not for me to talk about those type of things,” Newton said. “I’ve just go to do my job, keep getting better and keep moving forward.”

The Rams’ defense was dominant, but healthy or not, Newton didn’t help himself. Gifted an opportunity at the Rams’ 32-yard line after Myles Bryant picked off Jared Goff late in the first quarter, Newton was picked off on the first play of the second by the Rams’ Kenny Young, who returned the interception 79 yards for a touchdown. That gave the Rams a commanding 17-0 lead.

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“That type of play is all anticipation,” Newton said of Young’s interception. “I thought he had got right outside of the defender, so I was just going to try to lead him up field, and obviously that didn’t happen, and it ended up being a turnover going the other way.”

The Patriots had an opportunity to climb back into the game midway through the second quarter when an eight-minute drive brought them within two yards of the goal line. But on fourth down, Newton took a snap out of the shotgun and was brought down for a loss of two yards. The Patriots converted a field goal to end the half (their only points of the game), but the turnover loomed large as a rare opportunity for New England against a defense Newton described as “stingy, and rightfully so.”

“I didn’t want to pitch the ball and lead to a potential turnover, so I just took my chances and tried to take it up in there and see how much I could get,” Newton said, when asked about the Patriots’ failure to score at the goal line. “I didn’t want to create another bad play.”

Whether those bad plays are a result of Newton’s injury or whether he is simply still struggling 14 weeks into the season is unclear. Newton mumbled something that sounded like “No sir” when a reporter asked if anything is physically affecting his throwing.

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Instead, Newton — who Belichick said will still be the starting quarterback next week — deferred to his head coach’s postgame message.

“We just have to be better, collectively,” Newton said. “And he’s right. We didn’t play a good brand of football tonight, and they did, they made more plays than us, so it led to them winning.

“We knew exactly what they were going to do. We’ve just got to be better, and it starts with me personally. I just have to make more plays, and that’s what it comes down to.”

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