Cam Newton won’t return to practice until Thursday, perhaps giving Mac Jones a better opportunity to be a starting quarterback on opening day. Newton violated the league’s COVID protocols for daily testing for unvaccinated players.

Under league rules, players who aren’t vaccinated – like Newton – need to be tested daily. Unvaccinated players need to be tested only once every two weeks. (This is one way the league has tried to encourage players to get vaccinated.)

In this case, it appears that Newton was away from the facility for a day, trying to sub in a COVID test from a third party. The protocols require those tests to be performed at the team site, so it’s treated the same as if Newton simply missed a test.

"He received daily COVID tests, which were all negative. Due to a misunderstanding about tests conducted away from NFL facilities, and as required by the NFL-NFLPA protocols, Cam will be subject to the five-day entry cadence process before returning to the facility," said a statement released by the team.

This rule could cause problems for other unvaccinated players in the future. When teams have a bye week, for example, it will be harder for the player to re-join the team for practices – he would need to go through a five-day waiting period before fully returning. (Try running this by Cole Beasley, Kirk Cousins and Adam Thielen – I’m sure they’ll be excited by this rule.)

In this case, the missed practice time could play a role in Mac Jones ascending to a starting role for Week 1. Jones has played well so far; he appears to be a better passer than Newton already, with better accuracy and decision making. And this situation could help Jones get a nice long run with the first-unit offense in the third preseason game.

Newton wasn’t an effective passer last year. He averaged only 177 passing yards in the 15 games he started, with 8 TDs and 10 interceptions. He’s got some running ability, but as a passer, he’s just not that good anymore, with too many wild throws.

If Newton is somehow able to turn things around, he’ll be beating the odds. In the last 15 years, 52 other quarterbacks have started at least half the season and averaged under 190 passing yards per game. Only six of those quarterbacks were able to come back the next year, start at least half the season, and average more than 220 passing yards (and teams probably will average 250-260 passing yards this season).

In the chart below, you’re not seeing the poor season by each quarterback. You’re seeing their passing stats from the next year – starts, passing yards, TD passes and interceptions (per-start numbers).

STRUGGLING PASSERS (the next year)
YearPlayerStPassTDInt
2007David Garrard12209.11.50.25
2007Trent Green5197.41.001.40
2007Vince Young15169.7.601.13
2007Alex Smith7130.6.29.57
2007David Carr4119.0.751.25
2007Charlie Frye134.0.001.00
2007Michael Vick0.0.0.0
2007Jake Plummer0.0.0.0
2007Bruce Gradkowski0.0.0.0
2007Andrew Walter0.0.0.0
2007Aaron Brooks0.0.0.0
2008• Jeff Garcia11238.11.00.45
2008Trent Edwards14192.8.79.71
2008Tarvaris Jackson5188.61.60.40
2008Vince Young1110.01.002.00
2008Josh McCown0.0.0.0
2008Kellen Clemens0.0.0.0
2009Seneca Wallace2259.01.00.50
2009• Joe Flacco16225.81.31.75
2009Kerry Collins6178.5.831.33
2009Marc Bulger9163.2.56.67
2009Ryan Fitzpatrick8162.51.001.13
2009JaMarcus Russell9118.2.221.00
2009Derek Anderson7113.7.431.00
2010• Ryan Fitzpatrick13230.81.771.15
2010Mark Sanchez16205.71.06.81
2010Jake Delhomme4193.8.501.25
2010Vince Young8145.41.13.25
2010Marc Bulger0.0.0.0
2010Brady Quinn0.0.0.0
2010JaMarcus Russell0.0.0.0
2011Vince Young3288.71.332.67
2011Jason Campbell6195.01.00.67
2011Jimmy Clausen0.0.0.0
2012Christian Ponder16183.41.13.75
2012Blaine Gabbert10166.2.90.60
2012Tim Tebow0.0.0.0
2012Curtis Painter0.0.0.0
2013Blaine Gabbert3160.3.332.33
2013Christian Ponder9142.2.56.78
2013Brady Quinn0.0.0.0
2014Christian Ponder1222.0.002.00
2014Kellen Clemens0.0.0.0
2015Geno Smith0.0.0.0
2016Nick Foles1187.01.00.00
2017Cody Kessler0.0.0.0
2018• Mitchell Trubisky14230.21.71.86
2018Tyrod Taylor3154.0.67.67
2019• Ryan Tannehill10259.82.20.50
2019Marcus Mariota6196.51.17.33
2019Josh Allen16193.11.25.56
2019Josh Rosen3155.0.331.00
2021Lamar Jackson????
2021Cam Newton????
2021Sam Darnold????

—Ian Allan