Patriots Insider Projects How New England Will Handle Preseason QB Battle

The New England Patriots will start the regular 2020 NFL season within three months, and we don’t really know how will the team handle the preseason QB battle.

The Patriots didn’t select a quarterback in the 2020 NFL Draft. They didn’t even sign a veteran at that position. Many thought that second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham will replace TB12. Former Patriots superstar Rob Ninkovich believes that the Patriots will use Brian Hoyer under center when the season opens in September.

Michael Giardi from NFL Network shared an interesting take on the Patriots’ quarterback situation. According to him, the Patriots won’t “hand the gig over to the 2019 fourth-rounder.”

“Well, they want Jarrett Stidham to win the job, but they’re going to make it as difficult as possible and he will have to go out and outplay and outperform Brian Hoyer,” Giardi said Tuesday on “NFL Total Access.” “They will stress him in meetings, they will stress him once they get back on the field. Make things as difficult as possible for him and see how he reacts. They’ll throw a ton of volume at him in terms of the playbook, in terms of checks to see if he can handle it, because they know Hoyer can mentally handle it. Physically, Stidham has more upside. But again, he is the great unknown.”

The Patriots have a talented QB

Stidham will have to try really hard to prove his talent. He will have to show everyone that his skills are impeccable. Bill Belichick won’t accept anything less than that.

Not many players can please the Patriots coaching staff. However, most Patriots veterans have nothing but words of praise for the second-year quarterback. They all believe that Stidham will be able to lead the team in 2020. His teammates say the same thing. The McCourty twins have worked with Stidham and they like his style. Although he doesn’t have Brady’s experience, he learned a lot from the quarterback last season. Maybe Belichick will decide to hand him the leading role.

Stidham is young and talented. But, some analysts believe that the Patriots will use a quarterback from their free agents’ list.