NFL Rumors: New Context On Mysterious Jarrett Stidham Back Injury

So, what’s the deal with Jarrett Stidham?

Once viewed as Tom Brady’s potential successor, the 25-year-old recently underwent surgery on his back and is expected to be out until late October. The injury seemingly came out of nowhere, and casts doubt about the NFL future of a player whom the New England Patriots didn’t believe in enough to replace a horrible Cam Newton last season.

However, Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard on Sunday offered interesting new context on Stidham and his situation with the Patriots.

From his Sunday notes column:

Stidham’s mysterious injury — there are indications this has been bothering him for a while, dating back to last training camp (there’s optimism for his future once he finally gets 100 percent right on the health front) — is a bit unfortunate because you’d prefer to have a younger third quarterback. But as we’ve already seen, (Brian) Hoyer’s wisdom has a lot of value when it comes to Mac Jones.

Ultimately, it’s hard to imagine Stidham having a future in New England beyond being a backup. The Auburn product hasn’t inspired much confidence when given playing time, and Mac Jones likely will be given every opportunity to prove he’s the quarterback of the future.

In fact, if he keeps up his current level of training camp performance, Jones might even be the Patriots’ quarterback of the present.