Home WORLD NEWS Jarrett Stidham ‘definitely fired up’ by Patriots’ pick of Mac Jones – AL.com

Jarrett Stidham ‘definitely fired up’ by Patriots’ pick of Mac Jones – AL.com

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When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year after 20 seasons with New England, the free-agent transaction left Jarrett Stidham at the top of the Patriots’ quarterback depth chart.

A fourth-round draft choice from Auburn, Stidham had served as Brady’s backup as a rookie in 2019. But New England’s starting quarterback in 2020 turned out to be Cam Newton, another former Auburn standout who signed with the Patriots in July.

In this year’s NFL Draft, New England used the 15th choice to acquire Alabama quarterback Mac Jones on April 29 after re-signing Newton in March. In May, the Patriots also re-signed Brian Hoyer, who’s seeking to play in his 12th NFL season.

“It definitely fires me up,” Stidham said on Monday when asked about his reaction to the Patriots’ pick of Jones. “Last year, bringing in Cam before training camp, that fired me up to continue to get better and continue to grow as a player, so definitely fired up to be competing against Mac, Hoy and Cam. It’s a great room, so it’s a lot of fun to be in there, but, yeah, definitely fired up to compete against those guys every day.”

But the selection of Jones didn’t change his approach to his job, Stidham said.

“Every day when I come in the building, my approach is to learn from the people around me,” Stidham said, “obviously, the coaches, the players that have been playing a long time in this league. Learn as much as possible and continue to grow, so drafting Mac hasn’t really changed my approach. I can control what I can control, and that’s how hard I work, how prepared I am, and those things haven’t changed, so like I said, my mindset has really been the same.”

MAC JONES LEARNING FROM OTHER PATRIOTS QBS PAST AND PRESENT

Stidham played in five games during the 2020 season as he completed 22-of-44 passes for 256 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

When Newton missed New England’s fourth game last season after contracting COVID-19, Hoyer started at quarterback for the Patriots. With New England trailing 13-3, Stidham took over in the fourth quarter of a 26-10 loss.

Stidham also relieved Newton four times – three times in losses in which New England failed to score in double figures and in a 45-0 rout of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Stidham was asked on Monday if he was disappointed he didn’t get to start in the final two games of the 2020 season after the Patriots had been eliminated from playoff contention.

“I can control what I can control, whatever role that is,” Stidham said. “My goal is to be the quarterback here and to start football games for a really long time in this league, so the mindset of that has never changed. It never will change. But like I said, I’m going to continue to work as hard as I possibly can to really improve and continue to do what I need to do in order to get better and to help this team. …

“I come in every day, prepare, work. I have a very tight schedule that I kind of run for myself and my program, so to speak, on a daily basis, so I try to stick to that, and like I said, control what I can control.”

New England started its three days of mandatory minicamp on Monday with Newton back on the field. He missed last week’s practices after sustaining an injury to his throwing hand on June 4.

CAM NEWTON IN ‘A MUCH DIFFERENT POSITION’ WITH PATRIOTS IN 2021

Stidham is in his third year working with coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

“I think like with anything in life, the more you do something over and over, the more you hear something over and over, the more comfortable you’re going to be doing that,” Stidham said, “so going into Year 3, I definitely feel a lot more comfortable within the offense. There’re definitely things I’m still learning, really trying to master, but definitely feeling a lot more comfortable out there, which is good, and just want to keep learning as much as possible every day.”

After this week’s practices, New England’s next team workout will come at training camp. The players are scheduled to report on July 27.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.

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