Patriots coach Bill Belichick says 'Cam’s our starting quarterback'

FOXBORO, Mass. — With training camp ongoing, all eyes are on the quarterback competition between Cam Newton and Mac Jones. Heading into this offseason, Bill Belichick has stated that Newton is his starting quarterback, but has also mentioned that camp brings a “clean slate” for all players competing, including quarterbacks.

On Saturday morning, Belichick once again reiterated that Newton is the team’s starting quarterback while also making it seem like that decision isn’t set in stone.

When asked about the competition for the starting quarterback spot, Belichick said he’s looking for consistency and production.

"Yeah, well, we’ll take a look at the whole situation. I don’t think we want to evaluate players at any position off of one or two plays or maybe a day," Belichick said. "From a consistency standpoint, that’s always important. Obviously production. Hopefully those things will be good and I’m sure it’ll be a hard decision. But we’ll see how it goes. We’ll just let them play and try to do what we feel like is best for the team based on their performance."

The fact that Belichick said "it’ll be a hard decision" makes it seem like the competition between Newton and Jones is a close one. However, when asked if he has a timeframe for when he wants to choose his starting quarterback, Belichick once again pointed to Newton.

"No. I mean, Cam’s our starting quarterback. I think I’ve said that so…," Belichick said.

So far in camp, Newton has led off every drill. That certainly indicates that Newton is the Patriots starting quarterback. However, pads won’t come on until next Tuesday and after that, we’ll see three preseason games.

Essentially, the competition will only heat up. We’ll see if Newton can hang onto his starting job.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Patriots quarterback Cam Newton gets Bill Belichick's nod as starter