Patriots' Cam Newton 'Feeling as Good as I Should Be' amid Abdominal Injury

New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton expects to play Sunday against Los Angeles Chargers after he was limited in practice Wednesday because of an abdominal injury.

"I will be," Newton said when asked if he was ready to play this weekend, per ESPN's Mike Reiss. "I'm feeling as good as I should be feeling. You just have to stay on top of things, see what the trainers say. Just keep getting treatment."

Per Reiss, Newton fielded another question about the origins of his injury, to which he replied "it's football." 

Newton is having an up-and-down year in his first year in New England, where he has appeared in 10 games for the 5-6 Patriots. He missed the team's Week 4 game against the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs when he was diagnosed with COVID-19, and when he rejoined the team after a Week 5 bye, he led New England to three straight losses against the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers (when he was benched in the third quarter in favor of backup Jarrett Stidham) and Buffalo Bills.

The Patriots have won three of their last four games, including a victory over their AFC East rival Baltimore Ravens, and the one loss came to the Houston Texans as Newton threw for 365 yards and a touchdown.

As New England looks to secure a spot in the postseason, the team reportedly won't change course in favor of Stidham, who added 60 passing yards and a touchdown on five completions when he relieved Brian Hoyer against the Chiefs in Week 4. Hoyer had added 130 yards and an interception on 15 passes, his only appearance of the season. 

Greg A. Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal reported that Newton's injury is "minor" and Stidham was not in a position to take over the starting job (h/t Dakota Randall of NESN): 

"This is not to give cover for Newton to save face, should the team want to play Stidham, I can tell you that much. As far as I’ve been told, there hasn’t been much consideration about Stidham to this point, and there won’t be until the Patriots are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Stidham has not been charging hard from the outside in practice or anything."

The Patriots would likely have to win the rest of their games to make the postseason, something that isn't entirely out of the question with a schedule made up of the Chargers (3-8), Los Angeles Rams (7-4), Miami Dolphins (7-4), Buffalo Bills (8-3) and New York Jets (0-11).