The Cam Newton bandwagon responded to White's comments, saying "we've seen him on the field and Belichick's seen him off the field, so I wouldn't take much from White's comments."
Before I talk about what he said recently, I wanna go back to late in the 2020 season and share somethings both White, McDaniels and Belichick said, as it ties in.
On December 11th, 2020, just three days after quarterback Cam Newton praised Stidham's development as a quarterback, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick made the following statement. "Jarrett’s done everything we’ve asked him to do, and he’s done everything he can do. I don’t think you can ask any more than that."
Around the 22nd of December, 2020 James White appeared on the Dale & Keefe show. Here's what White said, “Jarrett is a good football player. Obviously, you could tell that coming in his rookie year learning and things of that nature. He has all the talent he needs to be successful in this league and I am sure he’s probably excited for whenever he gets the opportunity to step out there and I think he will be great whenever he does.”
The week heading into the December 28 game against Buffalo, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said, “We work as hard as we can to get everybody ready to go. I’ve seen plenty of Jarrett in practice. I see him every day. I’ve seen him for two years. I’m confident that I understand where Jarrett is at in his development." He said also said it's Bill's decision who plays.
2020 was a weird year and a lot happened. Stidham was expected to be the starter but mysteriously got injured after practice and took a few days before the team discovered it. Stidham lost the job to Cam due to injury, and found himself in Bill's "doghouse" as he was demoted to third string due to the circumstances of his injury.
Anyone who watched the first half of the Raiders' game, the fourth quarter against the Chiefs, the 49ers' game, and the second game against the division rival Buffalo Bills, knows three of Stidham's four appearances were comparable to Cam Newton's. In fact during the periods I mentioned it be hard to tell the two of them apart, as they both played so poorly and put up near identical stats.
Stidham's play versus the Chargers was just as much reason to have faith in the 2019 draft pick, as Cam Newton's week two performance versus Seattle. His strike to Gunner Olszewski on a perfectly timed throw on a timing route was something Newton struggled with, not only the entire 2020 season but throughout his career.
Now on to James White's comments. White talked about Stidham again recently on SiriusXM NFL Radio. White has practiced all season with Jarrett Stidham and got to see what he looks like off the field, where fans couldn't. White has spent six years with Tom Brady, so he knows what a good quarterback looks like.
This is what White told SuriusXM, “Jarrett Stidham, he’s young, he’s talented. I am sure he’s chomping at the bit to get his opportunity. I think he will be a guy that can get some things done. … He works hard. Strong arm, studies hard, prepares hard and it’s tough being a backup. He may not get many reps as he wants to, but he stayed motivated throughout that entire season. He got to play sometimes towards the end of games. He’s a young guy excited to get out there. You want to play those four full quarters and get your opportunity. I am sure he’s working hard this offseason to prove that he can do that.”
The Patriots had lots of praise throughout both the 2019 season and spring of 2020 for Stidham. However, Belichick did want to sit and develop him for another year before making a decision on whether he had starting potential but Tom Brady wanted out. Cam Newton was available and Bill Belichick signed him. The Patriots players came out in force and praised Newton but what else were they gonna say, he's a bum?
Former Patriots and ex Carolina Panther Kyle Love basically said that Newton had a fragile ego and that the Panthers never criticized him but Brady would get ran through the mud by Patriots coaches. Players talk, and the Patriots do their homework.
In fact it was reported the Patriots met with and did their homework on Newton well before signing him. If they knew Newton had mental issues, they more than likely gave a heads up to the team on protocol on how to treat and react to Newton.
Newton was named a captain quickly, which is not a surprise for a starting quarterback. However, even when Newton was playing bad, coach Belichick refused to not only criticize but to start or reopen a competition with Stidham. Was Belichick worried about losing the locker room, was Stidham that bad, or was Bill afraid of damaging Cam's ego?
With White's comments about Stidham, I am going to assume it wasn't because Stidham played bad, regardless of what the Newton bandwagon says. Everyone remembers Ryan Leaf's fragile ego, Bill wouldn't want to go through that, and if Cam was truly that liked, he wouldn't want to risk losing the locker room either by starting Stidham.
Newton is currently a free agent and it is believed the Patriots will not be resigning him, even though he has support of Devin McCourty. Stidham is still on the roster and there are three camps concerning him. One camp that believes he was redshirted and will be in competition for the starting job in 2021. A second camp who believes Stidham will be the backup until his rookie contract expires, and a third camp that believes Stidham will be out of the league come week one.
Now, There are a few average tiered quarterbacks that could come in and help develop a rookie or compete with Stidham in 2020. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Andy Dalton, and Tyrod Taylor all could come in and be a game manager in the Patriots offense. There are also a handful of quarterbacks in the draft that the Patriots could go after, with Mac Jones being at the top of the Board.
The Patriots on offense currently need an X-receiver and a reliable pass catching tight end, preferably a U-tight end. It just so happens that Kyle Pitts, a U-tight end who is the closest the Patriots will get to Travis Kelce, maybe available at the same time Mac Jones is.
If the Patriots believe Stidham is their guy, or that there's a quarterback coming out next year that they want, they will go after Pitts instead of Jones, and then build for the Future. It's very possible Belichick can draft players that can make the team competitive in 2021. Regardless of what the strategy is, if Stidham is going to be allowed compete, it makes Belichick's job that much easier.
Like it or not, Jarrett Stidham has a chance of being the Patriots starter in 2021. It maybe a small chance, and we'll know more as the offseason progresses but for now it's something we as fans must keep in mind. I mean nobody thought Antonio Brown or Cam Newton would get signed by the Patriots, and everyone was wrong. And most everybody thinks there's no way in hell that Stidham starts in 2021 but Belichick's proven us all wrong before.
Do we really want to continue to rule things out of possibility regardless of how improbable they are, just to get prove wrong again and again or are we going to learn to accept that anything is possible with the Patriots, until the window passes.
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