Patriots' Cam Newton Talks 'Frustration' with Struggles After Benching vs. Bills

New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton expressed his frustration with the struggles that led to his benching in a 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday night. 

According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, Newton said: "You can kind of understand the frustration that I do have when I don't have the outcome, because I'm sacrificing so much. You're talking to a person who [hasn't] seen his kids in three months."

Prior to his benching in favor of Jarrett Stidham during the second half of Monday's loss, Newton was just 5-of-10 for 34 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions to go along with 24 yards and one score on the ground.

The poor passing performance was the latest in a long line of such struggles this season. Newton has just 2,415 yards through the air with five touchdowns and 10 interceptions on the year.

Those numbers are a far cry from what observers got used to seeing out of the 2015 NFL MVP and former No. 1 overall pick during his nine-year tenure with the Carolina Panthers prior to signing a one-year deal with the Pats during the offseason.

Shoulder and foot injuries plagued the 31-year-old veteran in 2018 and 2019, though, and he hasn't been the same player this season since testing positive for COVID-19 prior to the Patriots' Week 4 game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Newton had two touchdown passes in three games prior to testing positive and posted a 2-1 record, but he has since thrown only three touchdown passes and gone 4-7 in the past 11 games.

While Newton has done a great deal of damage on the ground with 513 yards and 12 touchdowns, Patriots fans have grown accustomed to a dominant aerial attack due to Tom Brady's excellence during his 20-year career in New England before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the offseason.

The Patriots were already officially out of the playoffs for the first time since 2008 prior to Monday's game, but the Bills put an exclamation point on New England's disappointing season and exorcised some of their own demons in the process after being dominated by the Pats for so many years.

Head coach Bill Belichick opted to go with Newton as his starter Monday despite the fact that the Pats had nothing to play for, but perhaps it is time to give the younger Stidham an opportunity in Week 17 against the New York Jets in one of the few games with no playoff implications next weekend.