DeMario Douglas responds to Cam Newton's 'fool’s gold' take about 9-2 Patriots

Retired NFL quarterback Cam Newton said during an ESPN appearance that he feels the 9-2 New England Patriots have "fool’s gold written all over them," which predictably caused quite a stir among fans. 

Both Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel and quarterback Drake Maye did their best to dismiss Newton's comments. During a Friday appearance on Boston sports radio station WEEI, Patriots wide receiver DeMario Douglas was asked about Newton's remarks. 

Patriots trying to ignore what Cam Newton, others say this fall

"They saying we fake? Damn, that’s how you feel about us? That’s crazy," Douglas said, per Chris Mason of MassLive. "...I don’t really look at that stuff, so that’s why all this was news to me. But I feel like we’ve just got to keep going and keep pushing. Keep working. What we do in practice is what we’re going to get out in the game, so practice hard and ignore the noise."

Vrabel previously said he didn't want his players to focus on what people were saying about the team to attract "attention." Later in the week, Maye suggested he didn't even know Newton sometimes works as a contributor for ESPN.

Newton's comments focused on the Patriots' schedule. Specifically, New England has secured wins against the Miami Dolphins (4-7), the New Orleans Saints (2-8), the Tennessee Titans (1-9), the Cleveland Browns (2-8), the Atlanta Falcons (3-7) and the New York Jets (2-8). Additionally, the Patriots have beaten the 6-5 Carolina Panthers, the 7-4 Buffalo Bills and the 6-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Patriots aren't giving wins back despite easy schedule takes

During Friday's segment, Douglas touched upon the "Any Given Sunday" nature of the league. 

"I don’t think it’s ever an easy game in the NFL," Douglas added. "Honestly, a lot of games, despite the scores, (are) close games. Some of the teams that got a bad record (are) losing by one-score games or one point. It’s all about one little mistake, something like that, how people lose. I don’t think we have an easy schedule." 

As of Friday afternoon, ESPN BET had the Patriots as 6.5-point favorites for this Sunday's matchup at the 3-7 Cincinnati Bengals, which may have injured quarterback Joe Burrow back in the lineup.