FOXBORO, Mass. -- The New England Patriots have a rare off-day Saturday. But the next time they take the Gillette Stadium practice fields, it sounds like there will be four quarterbacks participating.
Jarrett Stidham didn’t participate in any team drills during Friday’s low-tempo unpadded session as he deals with a reported hip injury. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in a video conference call Friday, however, said Stidham should be good to go for Sunday's session, however.
“Coach held him today, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be out there ready to roll the next time we’re ready to practice.”
Cam Newton and Brian Hoyer shared quarterback reps in Stidham’s place. At some point, the Patriots will need to name a starting quarterback and stop splitting those reps evenly across two or three passers.
“As soon as the decision is made, obviously that’s an opportunity to start going in a specific direction,” McDaniels said.
“The quicker those decisions end up being made, then you’ve got to start heading in a certain direction. At this point in time, in camp, the competition that we’re seeing across the board on our football team at each position offensively is really what we’re looking for because I think that’s what makes us all better. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
The Patriots play the Miami Dolphins in Week 1 on Sept. 13. It will be interesting to watch the Patriots' unprecedented QB battle in the lead-up to that matchup.
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