Bill Belichick was in a talkative and expansive mood on a variety of subjects during his video conference with the media Friday morning.

But, discussing his new starting quarterback?

Not so much.

While it was reported Thursday that Cam Newton had won the “quarterback competition” with Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer to earn the starting job, and lead the Patriots offense in the initial going post-Tom Brady, Belichick wouldn’t bite.

He wouldn’t discuss what went into naming Newton as his starter during a team meeting Thursday. The Patriots head coach wouldn’t even acknowledge Newton had received the nod over Stidham and Hoyer.

“We’re not naming any starters at any positions,” said Belichick, cutting off the question. “Any conversations I have with the team will stay between me and the team. But we’re not naming any roster starters, or positions, or who’s on the team or anything else like that … sorry, I’m going to have to bypass that one.”

That had been the big news of the day, but not to Belichick, who was in midseason form regarding personnel decisions.

Asked about his confidence level in having Newton, who has had two major injuries plague his career, withstand the rigors of a 16-game schedule, Belichick talked about Newton being healthy throughout camp, but also acknowledged anything goes when it comes to health.

“Well, he’s certainly been a durable player,” said Belichick. “The injury last year was one of those foot-ankle injuries that we’ve seen take down players. That’s a tough injury. So far, I’d say he’s been out there, with the exception of one day he was excused for personal reasons, he’s been out there every day, he’s been able to participate in everything. So, he’s healthy, he looks like he’s ready to go. But, it’s a long season. Anything can happen to anybody, we all know that. We’ll see how it goes.”

Newton was also named one of the team’s eight captains. Probed about that decision, and how teammates have responded to him, Belichick noted the captains are chosen by the players.

“The players they elected are obviously the players they want to represent them in various capacities that come with those positions,” said Belichick. “I think we have a lot of good leaders on our team … we’ve had a long history and a great roster of captains here. I think the players that were selected this year have all displayed very impressive leadership qualities and are well-respected by their teammates on both sides of the ball. And, I think they’re all good selections.”

Aside from the Newton issue, there were a few other notable responses from Belichick during the media session.

On parting ways with Mohamed Sanu: “It’s just one of those things that didn’t work out. I have a lot of respect for Mo. But ultimately, things didn’t work out. I think he tried very hard, I think we tried hard, I don’t think it was anybody’s fault, or anything like that, it was just one of those situations that just didn’t work out as well as everyone hoped it would have when that transaction was made.”

And, regarding the kicker competition between rookie Justin Rohrwasser and veteran Nick Folk, Belichick said it was a “pretty close gap” between the two.

All NFL teams need to trim their roster to 53 players on Saturday.

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