New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton made some headlines Friday with an Instagram post in which he wrote, "I'm far from perfect.... but loyalty, I deserve it."
It was unclear whether he was talking about loyalty from the Patriots, the fans or something else entirely.
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Newton was asked about the Instagram post and its caption after Monday's joint practice with the Philadelphia Eagles. The veteran QB made it clear that the post had nothing to do with football.
"Having a close talk with people, that's just the type of vibe that I've been on. As a father, as a friend, it's deeper than football in most cases with my Instagram, as you know," Newton explained. "I use my social platform to really become a human. I don't really talk about football things. I try to post minimal football things because at the end of the day, I'm a human being.
"That statement wasn't for football, it was more so like a human. I'm a person who's away from my kids a lot, especially during the year. (I'm) away from my family a lot, away from my friends a lot, away from the people who know me the most a lot. I'm not perfect by that, and that's what I was kind of meaning by that, so for somebody to take that interpretation as far as, I don't know how -- but to relate it to football, it had zero things to do with football. Just having a relationship with your kids via FaceTime, that's kind of like the worst thing. But it's my heart, my heart is intentional and I want loyalty more so because of my imperfections as a person and as a man."
The main storyline with the Patriots in training camp has been the quarterback competition between Newton and rookie Mac Jones.
Both players saw action in last week's preseason opener against the Washington Football Team. Newton, unsurprisingly, started the game. However, neither player separated himself in any substantial manner with their performance vs. Washington.
New England Patriots
This week is a pivotal one for both quarterbacks. There's another joint practice with the Eagles on Tuesday before these teams clash in the second preseason game Thursday in Philadelphia.