Jarrett Stidham’s standing with the New England Patriots has gone into free fall since the signing of quarterback Cam Newton. At that time, Stidham was the presumed starter. Now, he’s the third quarterback on the depth chart. He has yet to be active for a game this season.
But behind the scenes, he’s been impressive, his coaches said.
“He’s a pleasure to work with because all he wants to ever do is get better and all he wants to do is improve and find a way to be more a part of playing,” quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch said Tuesday. “And he’s done a tremendous job there in terms of his work ethic, watching film, spending extra time in the meeting room, spending extra time on the practice field, staying later on the field, making sure pregame warmup he’s always available before, you know, before kickoff, so to speak.
“And he’s truly motivated to improve and truly motivated to continue to get better. And he’s done a really good job of that every day and really taken to working a lot alongside of Cam and spending a lot of time with him as well. So it’s been a real cool thing to watch, and I’m really impressed with how motivated he has continued to be to get better and be, continue to be a participant on the offense.”
New England drafted Stidham with a fourth-round pick in 2019, and he made the team’s roster as Tom Brady’s backup last year. He initially made the team over Brian Hoyer, who had intended to return to the team after they cut him before the Colts swooped in and signed him with a much bigger offer. So that left Stidham as Brady’s lone backup. But this year, Hoyer has beaten out Stidham for the job backing up Newton. Stidham had been in the mix for QB1 and QB2 but a hip injury set him back during training camp. But even with the last few weeks of health, Stidham still hasn’t overcome Hoyer.
“Stid has done a great job since he got here,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday. “He’s a great kid and loves the game football. Works really hard. Has put a lot of time and effort into his craft. He’s really an unselfish guy. Competed his butt off this whole year trying to learn and improve as a football player. Really continues to work really hard and prepare just as he would if he was starting, which is what he did last year as a rookie. He’s an unselfish guy. He will do anything to help the team. Practices well, practices hard, prepares every week to be ready to go. I have a lot of confidence in Jarrett and I see a lot of growth in him each week that he’s here.”
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