Pats coaches refine Newton’s throwing mechanics

FOXBORO -- During Sunday night’s broadcast of the Patriots’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks, color commentator Cris Collinsworth talked about how the Patriots coaching staff was working with Cam Newton to refine his throwing mechanics.

Collinsworth explained that the Pats were trying to get Newton to keep his shoulders level. The team noticed that, in the past, when Newton threw an inaccurate pass, his front shoulder had risen up above the other. He also said that the team is tryinag to get Newton to shorten his stride when he throws.

He offered the explanation after the quarterback had thrown an errant pass to N’Keal Harry. Other than a few inaccurate throws last weekend, Newton’s accuracy has shown improvement under the Patriots’ tutelage. On Thursday, he said his coaches have been “extremely helpful” when it comes to refining his mechanics.

“We don’t need to go into details but I just let the performance speak for itself,” Newton said. “I’m comfortable and it’s just holding each other accountable. That’s a phrase that’s used around here a lot. Knowing you could do it your way, be isolated or do it our way and just buy in.

“I’ve said since Day 1, I bought in. I would’ve bought in anywhere. ... I’m buying into whatever they tell me to do. It’s my job to get it down. I’m on board with coach Jedd [Fisch], coach Josh [McDaniels] and, obviously, coach Bill [Belichick].”

This marks Newton’s 10th season in the NFL. Throughout his career, which has produced an MVP award and three Pro Bowl selections, the book has been written about the 31-year-old’s pluses and minuses. He entered the NFL as an athletic quarterback built like a linebacker who had a powerful arm. Newton could throw the ball 50 yards downfield but one of the harshest criticisms was about his accuracy.

From 2011 to 2017, that was clear. In his first seven NFL seasons, Newton completed more than 60% of his passes just once. In five seasons, he was below 60%. In 2016, it was a career-low 52.9% completion parentage. In 2018, Newton’s accuracy hit a career-best 67.9% under then-new Carolina offensive coordinator Norv Turner.

Last season, however, Newton threw the highest percentage of uncatchable passes through the first two weeks of the regular season, according to Pro Football Focus. Newton, of course, was dealing with a foot injury and was placed on the injured reserve after Week 2.

This season, Newton’s accuracy appears to be improved. In Week 1, he completed 78.9% of his passes against Miami. That occurred with just 19 throws. Last weekend, however, Newton aired it out 44 times. He completed 68.2% of his passes. Through two weeks this season, the quarterback has completed 71.4% of his throws.

“Cam’s worked really hard on his throwing mechanics, and we’ve seen significant improvement during that time,” Belichick said. “Cam’s the type of guy where, when you point out something to him and ask him to work on it, he works very hard and he really tries to do it the way that you ask him to do it. I can’t ask him to do any more than what he’s doing, but he’s definitely made some modifications in his mechanics and his delivery. I think that’s helped his accuracy and the timing a little bit.”

Fisch, the Patriots quarterbacks coach, said he’s also working with Newton on his footwork and that his lowerbody has also been a focus. He also lauded Newton for his willingness to learn.

“I think what Cam has tried to do is improve on all facets of his game and has worked, I think it’s been well-documented in our building, for sure, on how hard he has worked and he’s continuing to work at that level,” Fisch said.

Entering Week 3, Newton has the seventh-best completion percentage in the NFL. Throughout his nine previous seasons, he finished the regular season in the top 10 in that category just once (ninth in 2018).

It’s clear the Patriots have helped Newton improve. Of course, the quarterback said it won’t matter if the team loses this weekend.

“Yeah, that’s cute,” Newton said of his improved completion percentage. “But we want to win.”