Damiere Byrd happy to reunite with Cam Newton

All Damiere Byrd wants is to play good football.

That was the main reason the wide receiver said he signed a one-year deal with the Patriots this offseason. It’s just a big plus that Byrd now gets to learn the Patriots offensive system with one of his past teammates and quarterback.

When the Patriots signed Cam Newton this summer, the transaction brought the quarterback and Byrd back together after three seasons in Carolina (2016-2018).

"Obviously, I was [...]

All Damiere Byrd wants is to play good football.

That was the main reason the wide receiver said he signed a one-year deal with the Patriots this offseason. It’s just a big plus that Byrd now gets to learn the Patriots offensive system with one of his past teammates and quarterback.

When the Patriots signed Cam Newton this summer, the transaction brought the quarterback and Byrd back together after three seasons in Carolina (2016-2018).

"Obviously, I was happy," Byrd said. "Cam is a great player. He’s going to bring a lot of experience to this team and that (quarterback) room. I know that room was excited to have him. All of those guys are working their tails off to get better every day."

After an offseason of virtual learning, Byrd hasn’t wasted any time trying to connect with the quarterbacks in New England. The 27-year-old joined Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer for their practice sessions as a local high school in Massachusetts. When Newton signed, Byrd also flew out to California to catch passes from Newton at UCLA.

The goal for the receiver is simple – create a connection with all the quarterbacks on the Patriots so he’ll have a jump start with whoever starts in Week 1.

"Just being bale to work with both those guys was a good opportunity to really kind of help me meet everybody really and learn and get chemistry," Byrd said. "Being able to have chemistry with everybody in that room including every receiver, every quarterback (is good)."

Last season, the Patriots offense lacked speed at their receiver position. That’s where Byrd comes in. At 5-foot-9, he admits he’s not the biggest player on the field, but he can fly. Coming out of South Carolina, Byrd ran a 4.28 40-yard dash.

In Carolina, Byrd contributed some at receiver. In 2017, he caught 10 passes for 105 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He also returned 11 punts that season for 104 yards (9.5 average). The year before, he was mainly the Panthers kickoff returner, averaging 32.7 yards per return and scoring one touchdown. It was after he left Carolina, however, that he started to shine. Last year, Byrd set a career high in receptions (32) and receiving yards (359) while playing 11 games for the Arizona Cardinals.

He credited his past experiences for helping him in 2019 and he hopes to build off that this season.

"I think just getting the experience. Being in a good place at the right time," Byrd said. "Just being able to have that opportunity to play and just take what I’ve learned from different people throughout my career and apply it here and soak up as much from the people who have been around this program and organization."

Byrd isn’t a roster lock, but he certainly has a good chance to make the Patriots 53-man roster. He’ll likely be behind Julian Edelman, Mohamed Sanu and N’Keal Harry to start training camp and will compete with the likes of Jakobi Meyers, Gunner Olszewski, Jeff Thomas, Will Hastings, Quincy Adeboyejo and Devin Ross for playing time and a roster spot.

In the event that Newton wins the starting job, it could help Byrd due to his experience with the quarterback. He said it’s helped having his former teammates here in New England.

"Yeah I think so. We’re both learning everything new," Byrd said. "We just kind of got into the facility almost a week ago. We’re both learning the same stuff and trying to move forward."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ