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Bill Belichick says Cam Newton's hand injury is 'nothing serious,' but still won't practice

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick did something surprising on Thursday: He gave an injury update on a player.

That player is quarterback Cam Newton, who left practice last Friday with a reported bone bruise in his throwing hand. Aside from a report the next day saying that Newton was likely to miss time during this week's OTAs, there hadn't been any update about him.

Until now, that is. During a media session on Thursday, Belichick deviated from his normal practice of telling reporters to refer to the injury report and gave an update on Cam. He not only confirmed that Newton had injured his hand, he also gave a prognosis.

"He's doing all right. He won't participate today, but he's getting better," Belichick said via NFL.com.

When he was asked whether the injury was serious, he answered that as well.

"Uh, no. Well, he's not out there, so, but I think he'll be all right, yeah."

When could Newton return to practice?

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Cam Newton's hand injury isn't anything serious. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said that Cam Newton's hand injury isn't anything serious. (Photo by John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) (Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Belichick didn't confirm what kind of injury Newton had sustained, and he didn't give a timeline for his return, but the situation appears to be headed in a positive direction. He said that Newton wouldn't be participating in the team's last OTA practice on Thursday, but left the door open for what could happen beyond that.

What's beyond OTAs is the Patriots' mandatory minicamp, which is being held June 15-17. We don't know if Newton will be able participate in that, but any time he misses will provide more opportunities for Mac Jones, who was taken by the Patriots in the first round of this year's NFL draft and is already drawing positive reviews from Belichick and the Patriots' coaching staff.

If Newton isn't able to participate in next week's mandatory minicamp, he'll be able to rest his hand until training camp in late July.

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