Jarrett Stidham seems to be falling behind Cam Newton in the New England Patriots’ quarterback battle, but the second-year signal-caller doesn’t seem to think the competition is over.
Though Newton seems to be getting the most quality work with the offense, Stidham thinks he can still win the job.
“I definitely feel like; how I view things is every day is a competition; whether I’m first string, second string, third string, fourth string, fifth string, I don’t view it as that,” Stidham said Thursday. “I just view it as a great opportunity to get better with my teammates every single day and to compete really hard. I look at it as competing against myself, too, and trying to learn and grow every single day, to help myself get better each and every day I go out there on the field.”
Newton addressed the quarterback competition on Wednesday by saying he is “absolutely not” the starter. And perhaps both of their lackluster work on Thursday supports their statements. Newton was 13 of 28 with an interception in team drills while Stidham was 7 of 14 in team drills. They each had a series in which they went 0 for 4. There’s still some question as to whether Stidham’s lack of work is a product of Newton’s advantage in the position battle or whether Stidham’s hip injury is holding him back.
“Yeah, and I don’t want to get too much into it,” he said. “But I’m very fortunate to have a great medical team here, a great training staff – Jim [Whalen] and all those guys. Then obviously our team doctors and everybody that’s involved. Everybody was great last week and everything. Like I said earlier, I’m just happy to be back out on the field with everybody and playing with everybody again.”
