Matt Light was starting at left tackle when Drew Bledsoe exited the game on Sept. 23, 2001 after that infamous hit from Mo Lewis. That’s when Tom Brady took over in relief of Bledsoe, and kicked off one of the greatest quarterbacking careers in NFL history.
The circumstances weren’t so different from what Jarrett Stidham will experience as the Patriots hope he’ll replace Brady. Stidham won’t get as much practice time as is typically afforded to a quarterback, with the novel coronavirus pandemic shutting down the team’s OTAs and minicamp. Then again, Brady hadn’t had much in the way of practice when he replaced Bledsoe.
“I witnessed it happen with Tommy in a very difficult time. It’s not as if he had the snaps in practice leading up to that Week 3 where he was going to take over the reins from a very veteran quarterback in Drew Bledsoe,” Light said on “Good Morning Football” on Friday. “Stidham is going to prove it right now. Unfortunately right now means they’re not able to get together, but when they finally do get together, it’s going to happen in practice first.
“It’s not going to happen in that first game — although you’re going to find out what he’s made of in that first game when the bullets are flying for real and the guys are amped up and it’s all on the line. But he needs to prove it in how he conducts the practices and how he gets guys on the same page in the meeting room and in the film room, the classroom.”
Stidham should get that chance during training camp, which is still scheduled to start at the end of July (though it’s unclear if COVID-19 will impact that start date). When he does take over, the Patriots may resemble the teams of the early 2000s, with an excellent defense and a run-reliant offense.
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