Bill Belichick on Cam Newton's Return: Patriots Will 'Have to See How That Goes'

With New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton 10 days removed from his first positive COVID-19 test, he can return to the team provided he remains asymptomatic. But Patriots head coach Bill Belichick isn't ready to welcome him back just yet.

"Again, any player that would come back to the team off the COVID [list] would have to go through a medical clearance," Belichick said in an interview with WEEI 93.7 on Monday. "That will be part of any player's return to the team from that situation. We'll have to see how that goes."

Newton's father, Cecil, told a North Carolina news station that his son never had symptoms and had been taking precautions before and after his diagnosis. Belichick, who clarified that he is "not a doctor," explained the league's changes to the COVID-19 rules, which allow players who are not exhibiting symptoms to return to the field without a negative test: 

"I think what you're going to find is, if a person has the COVID virus, that they're going to continue to test positive for a significant period of time. It could be, I don't know, 30 or 60 days. I'm not sure. I'm not a doctor here, but it depends on how much the body and how quickly it sheds the virus - but not at a contagious state." 

Newton's positive test was the first reported case of COVID-19 within the Patriots organization, which now has four reported cases. As a result of another positive test Sunday, the Patriots' already-rescheduled game against the Denver Broncos was pushed back to Week 6, prompting seven other schedule adjustments leaguewide.

Both the Patriots and the Tennessee Titans, who have 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the organization, did not have any new cases reported Monday. On WEEI, Belichick spoke about the lack of power he holds in bringing players back to the field: 

"Look, this whole area is really a medical discussion. It is not a football discussion. Frankly, it's not something that I'm qualified to talk about. It's really more of a situation that we rely on our medical staff, our doctors, our trainers and consultation with the league medical team and that's really what all this is about. You can't expect a football coach to manage a hospital or make medical decisions on something like this. There's no team in the league that's doing it that way. This is at a different level here."