Patriots Young Arms Are Looking The Best Thus Far With One Minicamp Day Left.

Heading into day two of minicamp, everyone is still watching the Patriots quarterback situation, trying to figure out if Cam Newton can be dethroned as the Patriots starter. Prior to Tuesday, the Patriots quarterback off season numbers went as follows, Newton is 16-of-27 (59.3 percent). Jones is 29-of-42 (69 percent). Stidham is 34-of-46 (73.9 percent), and Brian Hoyer is 22-of-34 (64.7 percent) with an interception."

So how would the quarterbacks look on day two of minicamp? That was the million dollar question and now that the day is done, we have our answers.

A little after 1pm Evan Lazar tweeted, "Shaky day for Cam Newton once again, who was 9-of-17 in team drills. Couple overthrows and missed Nelson Agholor badly on a comeback route along the sideline."

Lazar would later write, "We can caveat everything with it’s too early to tell in a non-padded practice, but Newton’s accuracy and timing in the offense just aren’t where they need to be, especially with a first-round pick now on the roster. It’ll be interesting to see where things stand in Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels’ minds come training camp."

One of the problems from Cam Newton is consistency. And it would appear that Newton is still struggling to find that as the media watched. 

Phil Perry tweeted, "During Newton’s next chance behind center, he launched three passes deep. First almost picked by Jalen Mills. Second overthrown. Third overthrown and picked by Kyle Dugger. He then completed his next three attempts."

Incase anyone thinks Perry is seeing things and hating on Cam Newton, Mark Daniels tweeted, "Cam Newton had a rough day. Intercepted once, but should’ve been twice. Not much working downfield. Some accuracy issues today."

Cam apparently was in low spirits, reluctantly walking to his drills as the day progressed. This was not the kinda of day the guy known for koolaid smiles, dancing, and nicknames wanted to have. Cam's known for his presence lifting the team, so one must wonder how moods like this impact the team's moral.

Zack Cox, Nesn's other reporter tweeted, "Big storyline from today was the sizable increase in reps Mac Jones saw. Cam Newton continued to lead off, but Jones attempted the most passes in team drills.

QB stats:

Jones: 17 of 25 (9 of 13 in 11s) 2 interceptions

Newton: 9 of 17 (5 of 9), 1 interception 

Stidham: 5 of 8 (3 of 5)

Hoyer: none"

Now Jones wasn't without his flaws but he was still reportedly the best quarterback of the day. With some speculation that the Patriots are going to try to force the issue of a competition between the two. Day three should be interesting.

Chris Mason tweeted, "Mac Jones was the best QB (again) but struggled a bit during the final competitive team period (2 INTs). It happens as a rookie first-rounder at minicamp.

Jones still clearly outplayed Newton, who couldn’t get much going all afternoon, and Stidham, who didn’t see many reps."

Zack Cox wrote about Jones's two interceptions, "On the first, he tried to float a pass to tight end Dalton Keene but found a leaping Dont’a Hightower instead. The second was tipped at the line and picked off by Kyle Van Noy. Those plays drew loud roars from the Patriots’ defense."

Lazar would write about Jones, "Jones’s best throw came on a purposely low completion to Nelson Agholor. J.C. Jackson had tight coverage on Agholor, who ran a comeback route along the sideline, and Jones threw it low and away from Jackson to give Agholor a clean chance."

Andy Hart of WEEI chimed in writing, "Overall on the day Jones was generally accurate and efficient in his chances, getting the ball out on a timely basis far more often than not and more often than Newton in the shorts-and-t-shirts action. That’s not to say there weren’t mistakes or negative plays for Jones."

Now Stidham wasn't talked about a lot but he still had a good day reportedly, hitting Olszewski, Nixon, and Agholor. With Lazar writing, "QB Jarrett Stidham is the King of 7-on-7 Drills." Lazar would basically go on to say Stidham has been the best in 7 on 7 drills.

Tomorrow should be the last day of training before the Patriots break for camp in July. Newton needs to end minicamp on a high note. The question is will Jones and Stidham continue their good performance with another solid day on Wednesday? After day two, Hoyer has to be the biggest loser, not recording a single pass on the day. 

The numbers this offseason going into day three of Minicamp are:

Newton 25 of 44 with an Interception (56.82%), 

Jones 46 of 67 with 2 interceptions (68.65%),

Stidham 39 of 54 (72.22%),

Hoyer 22 of 34 with 1 interception (64.7%)

Hoyer and Newton appear trending in the wrong direction, stay tuned to see if that changes on day three. If one didn't know better, just looking at the numbers this spring, one would assume the competition was between Stidham and Jones. In the NFL anything is possible because nothing stays the same for long. Could this become a battle between the young guns come late August?