The New England Patriots made a great decision by drafting Jarrett Stidham in the fourth round this offseason.
Stidham has been more than impressive in his first preseason showing, and he could likely beat out Brian Hoyer for the backup role. He was able to accrue 731 passing yards, four touchdowns and one interception in four preseason games. He had a 67.8 completion percentage and held a quarterback rating of 102.6.
Stidham played the entire preseason game against the New York Giants on Thursday night, and his performance was incredible. He threw for 225 yards, two touchdowns and an interception — with a 98.1 quarterback rating.
After putting together this preseason performance, he had a modest response while talking to reporters.
“A lot of mistakes. Good learning, great learning,” Stidham said. “I’ve been able to really sit back and watch the film with Josh (McDaniels) and the coaching staff and just figure out what I need to do to get better. That was my whole focus this preseason, was just to get better every single day and continue to grow from game to game.”
Stidham likely won’t see in-game reps until next year, so it was really important to play the entire game on Thursday.
“It was good,” Stidham said. “Just like the three other preseason games have been good, just to get reps and whether it’s coming in at the middle of the second quarter or the whole game. I was just very thankful to get reps and get better.”
After being asked about potentially earning the backup role on the team — he responded like any other Patriot.
“I think whatever decision is made, whatever my role is on this team, that’s what I’m going to do,” Stidham said. “Whatever it is, I’m going to continue to work as hard as I possibly can to do that and to help the team in whatever way I can, so that’s kind of how I’m looking at it.”
Tom Brady just turned 42 years old, so the clock is ticking on his career — and Stidham could be just the guy to learn and eventually take the helm.
