The Patriots keeping Brian Hoyer must be a bad sign for Jarrett Stidham’s development

If you read Patriots reports on camp and ignore the hype ones, where Newton could do No wrong and Newton is now the Goat; you'll see that it was just Stidham's injury and time missed because of; that gave Newton the start. 

That the Two Auburn quarterbacks were neck and neck because neither pulled away. That both were just as interception prone, with Stidham throwing soft enough for defenders to hang on to, and that the major difference between the two was athleticism versus accuracy. 

So let's back track. Tom Brady left a string of Bread crumbs about his future during 2019 and paid Belichick back for superbowl 52 with a pick six to Logan Ryan, to eliminate the Patriots from the playoffs.

After the 2019 season, it was reported that Bill Belichick wanted to give Stidham one more year before seeing what he had. Tom Brady knew this and left, messing everything up. So Bill went out and signed Brian Hoyer, a conservative game manager that he could win with. Hoyer would be the equivalent of Trent Dilfer in 2000 to Belichick.

Then covid went and screwed everything up. Teams couldn't hold any type of spring workouts. Player development was brought to a halt in name of safety. However,  the Patriots still had the preseason or so they thought.

On June 20th, 2020 the NFL canceled the Preseason. Any further attempts to get Stidham ready for the 2020 were pretty much shot. It was later that week that the New England Patriots brought in Cam Newton with an opportunity to start. 

It wasn't because of his price. It wasn't because of his athletic ability or prior accomplishments. It was because of the cancelation of the preseason, the fact that nobody was touching Cam, and the fact that he had starting experience. That's why Newton got the contract he got laced with insensitive, not because of money situations.

Belichick knew at his worst Cam Newton was Brian Hoyer with legs, which meant at his worst Cam could scramble where Hoyer couldn't. This Camp however, showed as a pure passer, Newton is worse than Hoyer. Which means, keeping him in the pocket is the key to beating him.

Bill would give Stidham a chance to compete but knew he wasn't ready and expected a sophomore slump. The two quarterbacks were about the same until Stidham's injury. That wasn't a good look for Newton. The team was frustrated Stidham because he had three bad days of camp due to injury and he could've been rested if he reported it that Monday.

The Patriots have shown confidence in Stidham and he beat out Hoyer in 2019, so why is Hoyer still here. Obviously the team must not believe in Stidham anymore, right?

Wrong! Hoyer has nothing to do with Stidham. Hoyer has everything to do with covid-19. If there was no covid, he would've been cut. Hell if there was no covid, Cam Newton is not a New England Patriots quarterback and Hoyer remains the backup to Stidham.

There aren't a lot of guys who know the Patriots system, who also have NFL experience. Hoyer is a valuable back up quarterback. It's why Bill keeps going back to him. Hoyer would not make it to the practice squad. So Bill kept him.

Hoyer will serve as an extra coach and also be the scout team quarterback. He will make sure the defense and the two Patriots quarterbacks are ready. Hoyer has one of the best minds in football, it's just sad that he wasn't gifted the physical tools. So anyone thinking that Hoyer means Stidham messed up, erase those thoughts. Hoyer is a pure precaution move.