Dante Scarnecchia may no longer be at One Patriot Place coaching those who protect Jarrett Stidham, but the longtime New England Patriots assistant is still able to recall what makes the second-year quarterback so intriguing.
And Scarnecchia does so rather fondly.
Speaking on Sirus XM’s NFL Radio, the now-retired Scarnecchia provided valuable insight on the Patriots signal-caller, who’s expected to start entering the 2020 season.
“This is a different guy in a couple of ways,” Scarnecchia told the station, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Zack Cox. “No. 1, he doesn’t have the wealth of experience that Tom (Brady) has. There’s no doubt about that, and you have to concede that No. 1 Yes, there’s going to be some things where he’s going to hold the ball longer than you want it to be held, but that’s all about growing up in this league, and you know that as well as I do. Those young guys, they take some time.
“But I will say this for Jarrett, too: he’s a bright kid, and he’s a guy that, when he doesn’t know, he’ll take off (downfield). He showed that in the preseason last year that he’s got some skills. … So there’s going to be some growing pains — there’s no doubt about it. But the guys does have skills. He’s got a great mind. He cares. He shows up early, goes home late. And I wish him nothing but the best…”
Great insight from Dante Scarnecchia on Jarrett Stidham (via @SiriusXMNFL).
Said there will be times when Stidham holds the ball too long — almost all young QBs do — but hyped up his scrambling ability. pic.twitter.com/Intnm2q6Es
— Zack Cox (@zm_cox) June 23, 2020
Veteran Brian Hoyer will likely challenge Stidham for the starting spot, but the job reportedly is Stidham’s to lose.
