Patriots: Newton has bad day, Stidham throws and Hover Shines.

Jarrett Stidham still limited as the Patriots number of practices shrinks. With each passing day, Stidham finds himself that much closer to being a backup. Stidham did his best today to live for another day.

However, it wasn't all bad for Stidham. According to Henry McKenna, Stidham was throwing during 11 on 11 drills. McKenna praised Stidham for leading Devin Ross through a traffic jam for a completion. 

The Associated Press's Gethin Coolbaugh noted Stidham was throwing around 15 yard passes and that he was receiving extra time throwing in passing drills. Something probably being done to make up for lost snaps and evaluation.

Coolbaugh also said about Stidham, "The 24-year-old jogged lightly during warm-ups and did not appear to be favoring any part of his body. He made more aggressive throws than he did last practice, even throwing deep passes to the end zone on go routes."

Bernd Buchmasser chimed in also, noting that Stidham was getting some time during the one on one sessions.

McKenna also praised Hoyer as being the best quarterback of the day. Nobody expects much from Hoyer this offseason, which is the disrespect that fuels the Hoyster. Hoyer is a game manager and a constant professional.

Although McKenna said Newton's day got better, according to McKenna Belichick wasn't pleased early on with Newton. 

His accuracy wasn't there and he was making unnecessary mistakes for a guy with his experience. Newton was far from an elite quarterback today, and Nowhere near Supercam. Game manager Newton eventually would emerge.

McKenna wrote, "After a fair amount of work on the run game in 11-on-11 team drills, Newton overthrew Mohamed Sanu by a sizable margin, nearly throwing to Michael Jackson. On the following play, Newton threw an interception into double coverage on Damiere Byrd. Cornerback Myles Bryant came down with the pick. Julian Edelman, meanwhile, was wide open underneath. Though Newton’s reads looked stronger on a different drive, his unit couldn’t get the ball into the end zone despite a trip to the red area. Things got even worse: Newton had to run a lap for fumbling the ball on a quarterback run. Chase Winovich poked out the ball and returned it for a touchdown."

Newton was starting to seemingly pull away with the competition when this happened. The fact that Belichick made Newton run has to bode well for Stidham. Accuracy has been an issue for Newton for majority of his career.

Those who read my articles know that I expected Stidham to throw on Wednesday or Thursday. The fact that he's throwing now, even while limited, keeps the competition alive. Especially if Newton continues to have days like today.