Bill Belichick discredits the idea that Cam Newton's immunity played a part in his release. (0:38).
FOXBOROUGH (Mass.) Bill Belichick, New England Patriots coach, said that Cam Newton's immunization status was not a factor in his team's decision not to release him.
"No. "No.
"I just wanted to point out that although I don't know the exact number, the number of COVID-infected players, coaches, and staff members at this training camp, who were vaccinated, is quite high. That's something I won't forget.
The NFL announced previously that 68 of 7,190 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 during the three-week period from Aug. 1-21, and that 68 of them were NFL staff members. According to the league, the rate of positive test results among NFL personnel who were not vaccinated was seven times greater than that of vaccinated personnel.
Newton was absent from the Patriots for five consecutive days last week because of a COVID-19 protocol "misunderstanding". He missed three practices during that stretch, which enabled rookie Mac Jones to assume control of the team.
The Patriots disclosed that Newton had been subject to daily testing, which was all negative. If they have had the COVID-19 vaccination, Tier 1 and Tier 2 players are exempted from daily testing according to NFL-NFLPA protocols.
Newton claimed that he had not been vaccinated and did not confirm it.
Urban Meyer, Jaguars coach, stated Tuesday that he and Trent Baalke had taken a player's vaccine status into account during final roster cuts.
Meyer stated that the reason it was considered was because of the stricter COVID-19 protocols applied to unvaccinated close contacts who are found to be high-risk or have tested positive for the disease. These protocols were different from those for vaccinated athletes.
The comments of Meyer were not well received by the NFL Players Association. George Atallah, assistant executive director for exterior affairs at the NFLPA, informed ESPN via email that Meyer’s comments "have led us t open an investigation."
Belichick described the decision to choose Jones over Newton as a "very competitive position."
He said that both players did almost the same amount of repetitions between practice and games.
Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator, said that Newton was released because he had "a tremendous amount respect" for him as a player. He is a remarkable human being. He did all he could to help us win this year and prepare for it to be better. He did a great job and I am grateful for all the hard work he put into it.
