Injuries And Surprise Performances At OTAs on Friday June Fourth

I watched Patriots Press Pass on YouTube tonight. Evan Lazar and Alex Barth were talking about Friday's OTA session in front of the media. Cam Newton apparently injured his throwing hand and the extra reps supposedly went to Jarrett Stidham. The two CLNS personnel said Stidham did enough to say it should be a three way competition instead of two. So I had to look into it.

Some of the writers I quote might say the same thing but there will be at least one writer at some point who shared something the others didn't when talking about the day. So don't quit before the article is over.

Mike Reiss of ESPN wrote the following Friday afternoon, "The Patriots are scheduled for four more voluntary OTAs next week and then three days of mandatory minicamp after that, and Newton could be shut down for those as the team looks ahead to the start of training camp in late July, according to a source."

Reiss also said that the injury was to Cam's throwing hand and that while he sat out, "first-round draft pick Mac Jones, third-year player Jarrett Stidham and veteran Brian Hoyer taking the quarterback repetitions in his place."

Little before 8pm on Friday, CBS Boston published the following statement. "Patriots quarterback Cam Newton did not finished Friday’s OTA session in Foxboro after suffering a slight bone bruise in right hand. The injury is not considered serious, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, but it will likely keep Newton out of practice until training camp begins in late July."

Now before I continue, that means the other three quarterbacks are going to get a lot more reps in practice. We saw how the 'neck and neck' competition was awarded to Newton last season due to the Stidham injury, so even though he has time to comeback, it's a blow to Newton.

CBS did confirm that Mac Jones and Jarrett Stidham did indeed get more reps with Newton out. CBS then quoted Mark Daniels' tweet where Daniels tweeted the results of the day, 

"11v11s

Newton: 2/3 (sack) 

Jones: 3/5 (sack, two tips including a dropped INT by Van Noy)

Stidham: 9/10 (only INC was a drop)

Hoyer: 4/9

7v7s: Jones: 5/6

Stidham: 4/4

Hoyer: 3/4"

It's just one camp but those numbers don't look good for Mac Jones. Stidham going 13 of 14 on the day, not including bucket drills is pretty impressive since Jones is supposed to be the most accurate quarterback in the group. Reminder that Jones was the best quarterback last week and Hoyer made the best throw.

Jason Patt of Clutch Points touched on today's events saying, "Stidham ruled the day among these quarterbacks, but obviously most of the hype right now is surrounding Jones after the Patriots drafted him in the first round."

Thomas Carannante of musket fire wrote, "Stidham was nearly perfect on the day, too, with his only blemish being a drop. That being said, he wasn’t exactly shredding apart the Patriots defense because he was unable to get the ball down field, which isn’t surprising because this is one of the best secondaries in the league.

As for Jones, he was apparently dealing with a calf issue, which may have contributed to Stidham’s ability to “shine.” Hoyer, as expected, wasn’t particularly impressive, but like we said, his potential presence on the roster is for his knowledge and experience, not physical capabilities."

Carannante would add, "It’s still an uphill battle for Stidham here, but he’s at least off to a much-needed positive start."

The eliteness of the secondary has to be mentioned because they might be the best secondary in the league. Which means the quarterbacks are going to want to pick on the linebackers if they can during any practice session.

Doug Kyed wrote about Jones, "He's a rookie. He looked like one Friday as the Patriots try to ramp up the intensity in practices, and he looked like a veteran last week..."

Kyed would add, "It was actually third-year pro Jarrett Stidham who stood out at the quarterback position. He went 9-of-10 in 11-on-11 drills and 4-of-4 in 7-on-7s. The Patriots quarterbacks, as a whole, only completed 10 passes to wide receivers on Friday, and Stidham alone had five of them. While Jones and Brian Hoyer looked more gun shy, Stidham was willing to open it up at times."

Kyed Acknowledged that it's still Newton's job but said, "it’s anyone’s guess how the depth chart will sort itself out in three months. There’s still time for a QB to pass Newton. The Patriots would probably like Jones to be the first- or second-stringer. He’s the first-round pick, and he’s the presumed starter of the future. But Stidham showed Friday he can still make things competitive with the rookie. Hoyer will probably only stick around in a backup or third-string role."

What Kyed rights is painfully true. Newton is one of the top three or four rushers on the team. Something that makes up for the fact that he's a subpar passer due to being the least accurate of the group.

Andy Hart of WEEI wrote, "Newton was far from the only notable story at the quarterback position, though, as third-year former fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham had a very good day throwing the football on the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium, arguably the best offensive player on the field during the workout that lasted a little shy of two hours under gray skies."

Hart noted, "Stidham had the best throw of the session with a deep in-cut on the left hash to Isaiah Zuber, who also had a solid practice."

Hart would continue, "(besides Stidham) overall it was a lackluster day for the new-look passing attack and Newton’s status after missing most of the workout is the key takeaway. But, Stidham was relatively impressive in his chances."

Henry McKenna of Patriots Wire wrote, "Stidham was accurate and quick with his delivery, completing 13 of 14 with the only incompletion being a drop. You might argue that he was too quick, with none of his passes traveling more than 15 yards. But with Newton hurt and Jones struggling, Stidham showed a refreshing level of competence in the offense."

McKenna would also say, "(Jones) was noticeably conservative in those reps after Newton’s injury, checking down on four consecutive passes over the course of two series. When Jones finally pushed the ball downfield, he held the ball too long and sailed a pass over the head of receiver Jakobi Meyers."

McKenna is leaving out some details when calling out how fast Stidham got rid of the ball. Keep reading and you'll find out what I am referring to. 

Brian Mazique of the Heavy wrote, "Newton had been taking all of the QB1 reps through the other days, but after he was injured, third-year pro Jarrett Stidham and rookie Mac Jones shared the responsibility.

Both players had their good points, according to multiple observers. Although, according to Howe, Stidham won the day with his accuracy and decisiveness."

Now details are everything, and Greg Bedard points out something that nobody else mentioned. There was a lot of talk from the previous writers about how bad Jones looked, with the occasional praise of the defense. Bedard gives a possible reason for why Jones had a bad day.

Bedard wrote, "Without their top three tackles, the offense could barely hold up from the onslaught. It had a trickle-down effect as Mac Jones had a rough practice, and I'm not really all that alarmed about that. Jarrett Stidham did much better, and looked like he gained a lot of confidence. Maybe this could be a turning point for him. Had a really nice in-cut to Jakobi Meyers."

We saw how the Patriots looked in 2019 without Isaiah Wynn and David Andrews. We saw how little time Brady had to get rid of the ball. Three top offensive linemen did not practice. Against the improved Patriots pass rush, All the quarterbacks should've had a  ad day. So the fact that Jones had a bad day shouldn't be a surprise but the fact that Stidham had a good day is huge because he looked scared under pressure last year.

Evan Lazar would write, "Stidham’s two best throws came on dig routes against two-high structures. After a vertical route cleared out the middle, Stidham zipped completions to Jakobi Meyers and Isaiah Zuber. He also completed a pass along the sideline on a deep comeback route to Kendrick Bourne. All three throws qualified as “NFL-level” passes, and Stidham was fired up after the dart to Zuber. As the forgotten man in the quarterback room, Stidham at least put up a fight against Jones on Friday, earning the final two sets of reps in 11-on-11s over the rookie."

The quarterback competition is sure to be interesting with Cam Newton not expected to practice until just before the start of the preseason. This was just one day but while missing linemen, Stidham showed more poise than Jones under pressure, getting rid of the ball quicker and with accuracy. 

Besides the quarterbacks, undrafted free agent kicker Quinn Nordin is still generating a lot of Buzz. He has a career long of 57 but was reportedly kicking field goals from the 50 today. With people noting that his leg is good but there's still a little concern over accuracy. However, That's what they pay coaches for.

The Patriots have seven more practices scheduled before Cam Newton is expected to return. This is the NFL, so things can change. However, this is also the Patriots who do things a little differently.