The quarterback situation is looking fairly bleak in New England. At the very least, the Patriots are approaching uncertain circumstances.
The Patriots quarterback group includes Jarrett Stidham, Brian Hoyer and Cody Kessler after Tom Brady departed in free agency. Stidham and Kessler are relatively unproven and Hoyer has been proven to be a solid backup (but not starter). Still, the Patriots players are likely to feel good about their situation in New England. At least, Devin McCourty sounded optimistic.
“I think, to me, the best thing for Stiddy (Stidham) was he had to go against our defense every week. He didn’t have it easy,” Devin McCourty said on the “Double Coverage” podcast with his brother. “To me, there were weeks he was just on point and those were some of our best weeks as a defense mainly because Stiddy ate us up in practice leading up to the game, and I think put more pressure on us. So, I really just admire how hard he works.”
He added: “The Stidham’s are going to be in New England for a long time.”
Stidham had a quiet rookie season from a media perspective. He earned praise from Belichick, but the Patriots hold closed practices, making it impossible for anyone not employed by New England to truly know how Stidham was progressing. His preseason performances — against dumbed-down defense — were impressive. In his only appearance of a regular season game, he threw a pick-six.
Not long after that, the Patriots signed Cody Kessler, who stuck around as the team’s third-string quarterback. He, too, impressed McCourty.
“He just has a veteran presence. He’s played on multiple teams, he knows our offense very well,” McCourty said. “I think he’ll bring experience and his knowledge. If he has to go out there and play, he’s going to compete at a high level, or if it’s coaching up a young quarterback, he’s going to be a guy that’s necessary to have in the locker room.”
