New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton says defending Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes is "changing the game".
Newton, the 2015 league MVP, had been due to face Mahomes, the 2018 MVP, for the first time in his career this week, but was ruled out of the Patriots' scheduled match-up with the Kansas City Chiefs after testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Sunday's game has since been rescheduled for Monday night, with veteran Brian Hoyer expected to start under center for the Patriots in Newton's absence.
"He's changing the game," Newton said of Mahomes. "I think he's shined a light on the new wave of quarterbacks. It's just fun to watch.
"Not only that, he has a lot of merit to what he does. It's not like he's back there like an arcade game. Sometimes it looks like it, but he knows exactly what he's doing and he's manipulating the defense.
"That's the same thing that the Dan Marinos used to do, obviously the Tom Bradys, the Aaron Rodgers. Those guys really have so much command of the offense that you dictate to the defense.
"That's what he's doing. He's playing the game at a high level."
The respect is mutual between the two quarterbacks, with Mahomes speaking of his admiration for Newton when watching football from a young age.
"I wish I could do some of the things he does, as far as how physical he is, and the way he's able to make plays happen," Mahomes said ahead of Monday's game.
"He's a great football player, someone I watched when he was at Auburn. He's in a great spot now and he's playing really good football."
The Patriots are currently 2-1 on the season under Newton, while Mahomes' Chiefs are 3-0, unbeaten in 12 games dating back to November 10 of last year.
Newton represents a major loss for the Patriots, with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels having done a fine job so far this season of moulding his offense to the dual-threat ability of the former Carolina Panthers quarterback.
Prior to the news of his positive test, Newton stressed the importance of the Patriots not getting caught up in the magnitude of their opponents.
"We just got to play Patriot football, simple," Newton said. "If we do that, control the line of scrimmage, stick to the key to win, we really can't just focus on something we cannot control.
"We know we have to play complementary football throughout this game, and I believe we're stacking practices on top of practices and that gives us enough confidence going into the game."
It will not be Newton in control of playing 'Patriot football'. That responsibility will likely fall on the shoulders of 34-year-old Hoyer, whose last start came during his time with the Indianapolis Colts in Week 10 last season.
He finished with a 46.2 per cent completion percentage on the day, with 204 yards passing for one touchdown and three interceptions in a 16-12 defeat to the Miami Dolphins.
Hoyer is set to get the nod ahead of Jarrett Stidham, who had been touted as the Patriots' long-term starter prior to the late off-season signing of Newton.
Watch New England Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs in their rescheduled matchup live from midnight on Sky Sports Main Event.
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The 2020 season has seen some exceptional play at quarterback already through the first three weeks of the season, but who is playing the best?
The Good Morning Football team tried to answer that question by ranking their top five at the position - click on the video above to watch and read on below to see their selections...
Rob Ryan to Falcons: Go watch Belichick!
"It's time for the Atlanta Falcons' leaders to stand up as the team looks to avoid adding to its record of second-half collapses," says former NFL coach Rob Ryan.
On Inside The Huddle, Ryan spoke out on the 25-point and 16-point leads the Falcons have blown in consecutive weeks to the Cowboys and Chicago Bears, respectively. Atlanta also gave up a 25-point lead against the New England Patriots at Super Bowl LI.
"In Atlanta's case, change the game," Ryan said. "Don't just keep playing what you're doing, it's not working. And they just come back and steamroll you in the end. Trust me I learned the hard way.
"You can't tell me you can't run the football at the end of the game? You need to run the football to win games. If you want to see that, don't go to (Kyle) Shanahan, go watch (Bill) Belichick, they do it every week.
"They [the New England Patriots] burn the clock, they protect the lead, that's complementary football. Some teams aren't used to it. Atlanta obviously doesn't know how to do it.
"Their problem isn't just defense, it's a team thing. It's the head coach, it's the offense, defense and special teams, you all have your hands in it."
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