Newton doesn't feel like starter: 'That label is not important to me right now'

Despite seeing increased reps during training camp in recent days, Cam Newton refuses to take anything for granted.

Newton appears to have passed Jarrett Stidham on the New England Patriots' quarterback depth chart, but he noted the regular season is still more than two weeks away.

"Absolutely not," Newton told reporters when asked if he feels the starting job is his to lose, according to ESPN's Mike Reiss. "Every day is a workday for me. That label is not important to me right now. I have so much I need to get better at, so much I need to learn, so much I need to be comfortable with. Throughout this process, that's the last thing that I'm pretty much worried about."

Newton and Stidham have been locked in one of the league's few true quarterback competitions in camp, though the former Carolina Panthers QB believes he must still make significant strides before he feels fully comfortable in New England's system.

"There are certain things when I come to the line of scrimmage and it's just not as firing mentally as I would want it to be rather than other plays that may be called," he said. "I see a person like Hoyer go to the line and he's as sharp as can be. For me, asking him questions, and he answers them. Stiddy (too). There are things I know I need to become better at. Until I get those things done, everything else is irrelevant."

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is impressed with Newton's attitude thus far and said the former MVP quickly emerged as a leader in his locker room.

"I think that's Cam's personality," Belichick added. "You see that in the morning going into the squad meeting or the practice field or the dining room or whatever it happens to be."

New England opens its season Sept. 13 against the Miami Dolphins.