Patriots quarterback Cam Newton showed up on the Patriots injury report Wednesday with an abdominal injury. (AP photo)

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – He missed one game due to COVID-19, but Cam Newton had never appeared on the New England Patriots injury report for anything else – until Wednesday.

Newton was listed as limited in practice yesterday due to an abdomen-related injury as the Patriots began to prepare for Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Chargers.

That’s the only indication that anything has been wrong with the quarterback, despite his poor performance in Sunday’s 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

The Patriots had 12 players on Wednesday’s report, all listed as limited except for Anfernee Jennings, who did not practice due to an illness.

The 10 others who were limited besides Newton were: linebacker Ja’Whaun Bentley (groin), defensive linemen Adam Butler (shoulder) and Byron Cowart (back), defensive back Kyle Dugger (toe), kicker Nick Folk (back), tight end Ryan Izzo (hamstring, hand), cornerback J.C. Jackson (hip), guard Shaq Mason (calf), special teamer Matthew Slater (knee) and running back J.J. Taylor (quadricep).

SLOW STARTS A PROBLEM

The Patriots, after being one of the best teams in first quarter scoring the last few years, right now are one of the worst.

“We’ve been working on it,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We work on it literally every day. So we’ll keep working on it and see if we can get better results here.

“Honestly, if I had the answer, I would have done it 10 weeks ago. But right now we’ve still got to perform better early in the game – coaching, playing – and find a way to be more productive than we’ve been.”

LYNN ADMITS CHARGERS NOT A PLAYOFF TEAM

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn and his team have some things to play for during their last five games, but the postseason isn’t one of them.

Lynn publicly acknowledged Wednesday what many already knew — it would take a miracle for his team to make the postseason even if the Chargers win their remaining games to finish 8-8.

“I will always want to show them the big picture every once in a while,” Lynn said. “The playoff hunt is probably not going to happen at this point, as best we can do. And I don’t think that’s going to be good enough. But we play for each other and we play for the love of game.”

The Chargers go into Sunday’s game against New England four games behind Miami and Indianapolis for the final AFC spots.

Quarterback Justin Herbert still has some rookie records he is chasing but said his biggest motivation is trying to play for his teammates.

“We’re all expecting that from each other. And so at the end of the day, it’s just us in this locker room and looking toward the guy next to you and beside you, give everything you’ve got for him,” he said.

Lynn and his coaching staff may be fighting for their futures as well. Los Angeles will host Atlanta on Dec. 13 before closing the season with three straight division games — at Las Vegas (Dec. 17), hosting Denver (Dec. 27) and then at Kansas City (Jan. 3). The Chargers are in danger of losing double-digit games in two straight seasons for the first time since 2016.

The Chargers will once again be dealing with their share of injuries this week. The defensive line remains shorthanded with defensive end Melvin Ingram out for the season due to a knee injury and Uchenna Nwosu still nursing a shoulder injury suffered against the New York Jets on Nov. 22. Linebacker Kyzir White — who leads the team in tackles — remains on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

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