Brian Hoyer is the Patriots’ fourth quarterback option for 2021.
The New England Patriots have signed quarterback Brian Hoyer to a one-year deal, according to Hoyer’s agent Joe Linta.
Hoyer will join a crowded quarterback room, which includes last year’s starter Cam Newton, a 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones and a 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham. Hoyer finished third on the depth chart for the Patriots in 2020 after losing the backup job to Stidham.
Hoyer finished 2020 with one start against the Kansas City Chiefs. He completed 62.5% of his passes for 130 yards and an interception before the Patriots benched him for Stidham.
Hoyer has spent his career with eight different teams: the Patriots (2009–2011, 2017–2018, 2020-2021), the Pittsburgh Steelers (2012), the Arizona Cardinals (2012), the Cleveland Browns (2013–2014), the Houston Texans (2015), the Chicago Bears (2016), the San Francisco 49ers (2017) and the Indianapolis Colts (2019. He started his career in New England as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan State.
The #Patriots signed QB Brian Hoyer back on a 1-year deal, per @JLSports3. Another veteran to help Mac Jones and provide depth.
The Jets are looking at 35-year-old Brian Hoyer to backup whichever rookie they draft.
The Jets appear locked in on a quarterback with the No. 2 pick, but that hasn’t stopped Joe Douglas from looking at a veteran to sit behind him.
Brian Hoyer, who played for the Patriots last year, is set to visit the Jets today, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. He only appeared in one game in 2020, throwing for 130 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in a Week 4 loss to the Chiefs.
The 13-year veteran would play backup and mentor to the Jets’ rookie quarterback.
Hoyer has a few connections to the Jets. He started six games for the 49ers in 2017 when Mike LaFleur was the passing game coordinator and went 7-6 with the Browns in 2014 when LaFleur was an intern under offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. If anything, Hoyer would be familiar with the offense the Jets will likely run in 2021 and would be a fine fill-in quarterback if necessary.
This wouldn’t be the first time the Jets courted Hoyer, either. They brought him in for a visit in 2016 as a fallback plan if contract negotiations with Ryan Fitzpatrick fell through. Hoyer ultimately signed with the Bears while the Jets signed Fitzpatrick, though neither quarterback performed well.
Right now, the Jets’ “plan” for QB2 is 2020 is fourth-round rookie James Morgan, who didn’t see the field once last year and wasn’t even activated for a game. Bringing in a veteran like Hoyer, who understands the offense already, would help bridge the gap between the playbook and the field for whichever rookie quarterback the Jets draft.
Former New England Patriots quarterback Brian Hoyer will meet with the New York Jets on Thursday, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
The Jets traded starting quarterback Sam Darnold to the Carolina Panthers this week, and James Morgan and Mike White are the only players left at the position. New York is expected to take a quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick, and that player would likely be the day-one starter. But the Jets will probably look for a veteran to inject some experience into the group, even if that veteran serves as the backup.
That’s where Hoyer could come in useful. He started in one game for the Patriots in 2020, though the team benched him during that performance. Hoyer has also started for the Cardinals, Browns, Bears, Texans and 49ers. He started his career in New England, but has sustained a 12-year career as a journeyman backup.
Interesting free agent visit on tap today: #Patriots QB Brian Hoyer is set to visit the #Jets, source said. A long-time backup in New England emerges as a potential backup and mentor to the new rookie QB at NYJ.
Roll Tide Wire takes a dive into every starting quarterback’s numbers under new Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien.
Steve Sarkisian is off to Austin as the new head coach of the Texas Longhorns, and that move left Alabama looking for a new offensive coordinator who can call plays.
After some back-and-forth, the Crimson Tide landed on former Houston Texans and Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien.
The move was considered an odd one by some, but O’Brien is still highly respected as an offensive mind. His time as a head coach has seen plenty of ups and downs, but he should have plenty to work with in Tuscaloosa.
Let’s look a little bit at his past, though.
His most noteworthy success came in his five seasons under Bill Belichick with the New England Patriots. His first two seasons were as an analyst and wide receivers coach, but his final three years included being Tom Brady’s quarterbacks coach and eventual, his offensive coordinator.
The connection between Belichick and Alabama head coach Nick Saban is obvious, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to know that relationship factored into the decision to bring O’Brien in — similarly to when Brian Daboll was hired back in 2017.
There is also some recruiting incentives with O’Brien.
It’s always nice to have a former NFL head coach roaming your sidelines when it comes to attracting high-profile high school recruits. As of right now, Alabama has added two this offseason with O’Brien and new offensive line coach Doug Marrone.
But what about O’Brien success with quarterbacks since leaving New England and Brady? Well, Roll Tide Wire dove into the numbers for the top quarterback on each of O’Brien’s teams since he became a head coach in 2012.
The results were … interesting. Take a look for yourself.
The Patriots are losing some much-needed depth on the offensive line.
The New England Patriots will be without two starting offensive linemen in their Week 17 matchup against the New York Jets.
New England is 6-9 and looking for a win to cap off the season. That task will be much more difficult with center David Andrews (calf) and right guard Shaq Mason (foot) out of the mix. Anfernee Jennings, Terez Hall, Brian Hoyer, D’Angelo Ross and Dee Virgin will also miss the contest.
Running back Damien Harris was placed on the injured reserve list with an ankle injury and he’ll miss the remainder of his second season in the league. The Patriots are extremely slim at running back, with Sony Michel and and James White as the primary options.
Patriots inactives:
LB Anfernee Jennings LB Terez Hall CB Dee Virgin CB D’Angelo Ross QB Brian Hoyer C David Andrews RG Shaq Mason
It seems Brian Hoyer’s work in Week 4 left a bad taste in Bill Belichick’s mouth. Quarterback Jarrett Stidham is the New England Patriots’ backup quarterback for Week 6 of the NFL season.
Hoyer was inactive for the Patriots’ game against the Broncos on Sunday, which meant Stdiham was the only backup active behind Newton. It marks his first time as Cam Newton’s backup. Stidham has leapfrogged Hoyer on the depth chart.
The decision made plenty of sense after Hoyer’s rough outing against the Kansas City Chiefs. New England probably previously favored him because of his experience, particularly in the Patriots system. But he looked like a rookie, making multiple decisions that cost the Patriots points. That led to his benching at the end of the third quarter. And that probably led to a lack of confidence in Hoyer. If he couldn’t bring a steadying presence to the team in Newton’s absence, he didn’t bring a tremendous amount of value.
Stidham entered the game and made a few errors of his own, with two interceptions. Even so, New England must have liked what they saw from Stidham in that game and in the practices that ensued to justify elevating him past Hoyer for this week.
Bill Belichick was not exactly illuminating about his quarterback controversy.
The New England Patriots have a starting quarterback, who is positive for COVID-19, and a backup quarterback controversy. It all adds up to a difficult decision as Bill Belichick picks the starter for Week 5.
Quarterback Cam Newton has not practiced with the team since he tested positive for COVID-19 on Oct. 3. He could be eligible to play in the Patriots’ Monday night matchup against the Denver Broncos, if he has remained asymptomatic, which he was, as of Monday. But if he has since developed symptoms or the Patriots want to give Newton more time away from the team or they simply don’t want to start him without giving him a chance to practicem, New England will have to pick between Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham, who each had major issues in Week 4 against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Belichick said Newton will not practice on Saturday, even though the quarterback has been participating in all of the virtual meetings. But those are the only hard facts the coach would provide. Belichick was asked whether he’d made a decision on who would play quarterback on Monday.
“We’re hour-to-hour. It’s 8:30 on Saturday morning,” Belichick said on a conference call. “We’ll go through practice, go through the next day, today, tomorrow, just see how things — it’s the same at every position, honestly. We haven’t seen our team since Monday night in Kansas City. We haven’t done anything together except have virtual meetings. I am not sure where we are in a lot of cases. We even haven’t had an in-person staff meeting. We’ve been able to talk about things, but talking about things is one thing, doing them is a whole other story. We’ll take it as it comes.
“I appreciate all the questions. They are all the same. Just change the name and the subject and they are all the same. I am not trying [to make] decisions about Sunday, Monday or anything else. I am trying to make the most of our opportunity today and we will evaluate that and see what we need to do next and continue those preparations up until game time. Sorry I can’t give you a better answer to those questions. They are all the same questions, but unfortunately the answers are all the same, too.”
Cam Newton’s positive COVID test left the New England Patriots scrambling last week.
The timing was difficult for Bill Belichick, knowing that the Kansas City Chiefs were on the slate for Week 4. Belichick had to make a decision at quarterback, and the highly-experienced veteran Brian Hoyer won the job. He ended up getting pulled at the end of the third quarter after two turnovers and two miscues on third down in the red zone.
Second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who appeared to win the starting role this offseason, was demoted to the third-string spot. Stidham subbed in for Hoyer heading into the fourth quarter and ended up throwing two interceptions himself. When it came to Belichick’s decision to choose Hoyer — many people believed it was due to the hip ailment Stidham dealt with at the end of the offseason.
“At the end of the day it comes down to performance,” Stidham said. “I think this profession that we’re in it’s all performance based. You have to go out there on the field and do the things you need to do in order to move the chains and to help the team.”
Again, I’ve been controlling what I can control. My preparation, my effort, my attitude, and my performance have all been things I can control. I’m not the one making decisions and so on and so forth but I can control the things that I can control. That’s kind of been my mindset. Each and everyday I’m working my butt off to make sure I can get out there on the field and perform at a high level.”
The Patriots still aren’t sure of Newton’s status and who will earn the starting role this Sunday against the Denver Broncos. But, Stidham and Hoyer proved they both have some things to work on within this offense.
Brian Hoyer said it himself: “I look at it as I cost us at least six points.”
The New England Patriots quarterback botched a pair of drives against the Chiefs on Monday night so badly that he killed his team’s chances of kicking a field goal (twice). Hoyer’s second error was a foolish one — he held the ball too long and took a strip-sack in the red zone. It’s hard to let him off the hook for that, but it happens, particularly against a great pass-rushing team like the Chiefs. And it cost New England three points, at least. It was bad enough that the Patriots benched Hoyer. But it wasn’t his worst sequence on Monday night.
That came at the end of the first half when Hoyer squandered the team’s final drive. With no timeouts left on a third-and-9 at the Chiefs’ 13-yard line, Hoyer took a sack, something no quarterback should ever do. Though he attempted to call a timeout (showing his lack of awareness), the clock ran out. A three-point scoring opportunity slipped away.
Hoyer thought back to that final play of the first half.
“Josh (McDaniels) said to me in the helmet, ‘Let’s take a shot and no bad plays.’ Like I said, I looked, and I knew I was in the pocket, so I didn’t want to intentional ground,” Hoyer said after the game. “I’ve just got to do a better job of throwing over someone’s head.”
Bill Belichick was asked whether there was a communication error that led Hoyer to try to call a timeout.
“We were down by three points and we had some missed opportunities in the first half,” Belichick said. “We tried to find ways to keep playing well. It was a three-point game.”
The fault for the loss hardly falls solely on Hoyer. As good as the defense played — and it was brilliant — cornerback J.C. Jackson and safety Devin McCourty each dropped a potential interception. Stidham threw two interceptions, one of which was the fault of receiver Julian Edelman. The second interception might have been a touchdown to Damiere Byrd if Stidham had placed the ball properly. Even the officials had their part, with referee Tony Corrente saying Patrick Mahomes’ progress was stopped for a sack, just a nanosecond before he threw an interception. Not only was the call wrong, but it made it impossible for the Patriots to challenge.
Did the Patriots feel like they had a chance to win but they let too many opportunities slip away?
“Yeah, for sure,” Hoyer said. “I look at it as I cost us at least six points,” he said. “I’ve got to do a better job there. We knew it was going to be a tough game that was going to go for 60 minutes. We had to be physical with them. I thought we did a good job, I thought the (offensive) line did a good job, obviously, running the ball, with protection. There were definitely missed opportunities there.”
With both quarterbacks missing plenty of opportunities, New England may have a hard decision to make when it determines which signal-caller starts in Week 5 against Denver while quarterback Cam Newton recovers from COVID-19.
The Patriots need Cam Newton to be successful this season.
Without Cam Newton on the field, the New England Patriots are predictably worse off.
The idea that Jarrett Stidham or Brian Hoyer could successfully run this team was thrown around in the offseason. Stidham, who’s in his second NFL season, was the assumed starter before Newton was signed. Both backup quarterbacks had their chance against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, but Stidham looked better in hindsight.
Newton missed the game after contracting COVID-19 and the Patriots lost the primetime matchup 26-10. The result wasn’t as bad as the scoreboard reflected, but the defense deserved most of the credit for it. The Patriots entered the fourth quarter with the score being 13-10, and then it got ugly, quick.
Cam Newton is only chance for playoff success
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Hoyer was a decent replacement to begin with, until he had his first miscue at the end of the half. On third down in the red zone, Hoyer held the ball too long with no timeouts and took a sack. New England received the ball at half, but Hoyer’s failed attempt at points left the score at 6-3 with the Chiefs ahead.
The Patriots drove up the field on their second drive of the third quarter and wasted the clock down, while making it to the red zone again. Hoyer fumbled the ball on 3rd-and-8, resulting in another scoreless drive.
Stidham replaced Hoyer in the fourth quarter and threw a touchdown to N’Keal Harry in his first chance down the field. Though one interception was Julian Edelman’s fault — Stidham still finished the game with two giveaways. The Patriots’ quarterbacks combined for four turnovers, and it was too much for the defense to come back from.
Nothing needs to be said about the difference Newton makes.
Damien Harris could take over as No. 1 back
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Sony Michel was placed on the injured reserve list — leaving the Patriots with James White, Damien Harris, Rex Burkhead and J.J. Taylor.
New England totaled 185 rushing yards and 100 of them came from the second-year back, Harris. He totaled the 100 yards on 17 carries, with a long of 41 yards. Harris seemed to be the top back in training camp and it came to fruition in his first game off the injured reserve list.
Burkhead followed him up with 45 yards, but the primary back going forward will likely be Harris. The addition of Newton in the offense will open up the run game even more, adding to the amount of opportunities the Patriots will get on the ground.
The Patriots are doing things correctly this season in the rushing department.
Defense showed grit and big-time toughness
(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
As aforementioned, the Patriots held the Chiefs to six points at halftime and they only had 13 points heading into the fourth quarter. The Patriots created one turnover, and should’ve had a second one in the game.
This should be a fumble or even a #Patriots INT. There should've been no whistle.
Chase Winovich, who’s becoming a star himself, is the one who wreaked havoc and caused the fumble. The secondary was locking Patrick Mahomes down most of the game, leaving him with 236 yards and two touchdowns. Kansas City was held to 94 yards on the ground and a majority of the offense came in the fourth quarter.
This defense is serious and will be much more effective when they have an offense that can put points on the board.
Road to Super Bowl goes through Kansas City
Kansas City defeated the Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens in the first four games of the season.
The Chiefs’ schedule only gets easier from here and it’s obvious the reigning Super Bowl MVP isn’t slowing down anytime soon. So, the road to the Super Bowl will very likely go through Arrowhead Stadium.
Fortunately for the Patriots — Bill Belichick showed how scary this team can be without a decent quarterback at the helm. Andy Reid received the message and knows the Patriots are far from a losing team. New England, with Newton, has a very solid chance of taking out the reigning champs in the playoffs.
