The New England Patriots rarely have public drama around their team, so you can imagine N’Keal Harry’s embarrassment when his name was roped into a mess concerning Cam Newton.
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N’Keal Harry Wants to Clear the Air
Earlier in the week, there was a bit of controversy around comments made by Rischad Whitfield, Harry’s offseason trainer. Whitfield seemed to blame Newton for some of Harry’s lack of production.
Whitfield claimed For The Win’s Henry McKenna misquoted him. The latter stood by his story, and I briefly spoke to Whitfield about clarifying his statements before he ultimately spoke to CLNS’ Evan Lazar and offered the following comments:
Cam Newton has nothing to do with any kind of productivity or lack thereof for N’Keal Harry, that’s for sure, I want to clear that up. It has nothing to do with Cam at all. I would never blame a quarterback for another person’s lack of production. These players went into the season without any kind of install because they couldn’t go to the facility due to COVID. These guys went from training on their own to training camp. That’s why you see so many injuries, so many guys that aren’t on target; you see a lot of quarterbacks and receivers that aren’t on the same page. This is N’Keal’s first season playing with Cam, and vice versa. I mean, the only type of work that these guys got was at UCLA [for two days in July] on the field.
Even with Whitfield offering such a definitive clarification of his meaning, Harry still felt compelled to come to his teammate and explain himself.
During Harry’s time speaking with the media on Thursday, he made it clear, those comments–whether taken in or out of context–were not a reflection of his thoughts.
Harry said:
Yeah, I just let (Newton) know, I just made sure he knew that whatever was said — I don’t know what was said — but nothing came from me. Rischad hasn’t said anything like that to me. It doesn’t sound to me like something — that exact statement is something he would say. I don’t know if it was taken out of context or what happened, but I don’t know. That conversation never came from me, and it was never anything that I was even aware of until I saw it on social media.
Harry is Trending Upward
With his play trending upward for maybe the first time all season, the last thing Harry needs is chemistry issues with his quarterback. That’s not to imply that Newton would treat him differently based on something his trainer may or may not have said. Still, it makes all the sense in the world for Harry to clear the air.
Harry had a touchdown catch in the win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 13, and he led the team in receiving yards in the loss to the Los Angeles Rams last week. Everyone involved is hoping to see Harry build on his success on Sunday in a crucial game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
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N’Keal Harry Addresses Trainer’s Controversial Comments on Cam Newton