Jarrett Stidham thinks he’s ‘absolutely’ ready to start for the Patriots

Jarrett Stidham came into this offseason confident.

He worked hard last season to improve as a rookie. As the year went on, he made strides and impressed teammates in practice. When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it looked like Stidham was the man to replace the future Hall-of-Famer. It looked that way all spring and into June.

In July, however, the Patriots signed three-time Pro Bowler and former MVP Cam Newton to a one-year deal. Many wondered if this [...]

Jarrett Stidham came into this offseason confident.

He worked hard last season to improve as a rookie. As the year went on, he made strides and impressed teammates in practice. When Tom Brady signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it looked like Stidham was the man to replace the future Hall-of-Famer. It looked that way all spring and into June.

In July, however, the Patriots signed three-time Pro Bowler and former MVP Cam Newton to a one-year deal. Many wondered if this was a blow to Stidham’s confidence and how would the young quarterback react to the signing.

As it turns out, Stidham’s confidence never waivered.

On Friday, the second-year quarterback was asked directly if he felt like he was ready to start it the NFL and his answer spoke volumes.

"Absolutely. I think I am definitely ready. I put in a lot of work this offseason to really improve mentality, physically, in a lot of different areas," Stidham said. "At the end of the day I am extremely excited to compete with Cam and Hoy as we go forward in training camp and getting to the season and things like that. I am really looking forward to the competition. I love competing in whatever it is. I am really looking forward to it."

Stidham had an outstanding training camp last August. He competed hard and in the preseason, his numbers were slightly better than Jimmy Garoppolo’s rookie stats from 2014. The rookie was so good that the team ended up releasing veteran Brian Hoyer to make him the top backup behind Brady.

Of course, being a backup to Brady has its pros and cons. For one, you get to learn from the greatest quarterback of all-time. The biggest drawback, however, is that you won’t get many snaps when the regular season starts. Since he really didn’t play much last season – he threw four passes – the biggest question around him revolves around that lack of experience.

That’s what he lacks compared to Newton and Hoyer, who signed back with the Pats in March. Of course, what you did in the past never matters to Bill Belichick. It’s about how you compete in the present.

When the Patriots signed Newton, Stidham said he was excited. He met the veteran back in college at Auburn. Newton, who won a National Championship with Auburn, came back to the school and took Stidham out to lunch. Now, Stidham is excited for a chance to compete against him and said his confidence was never hurt when Newton came to Foxboro.

"No, I think I have approached this offseason kind of the season from January right up until I am sitting here talking to you guys," Stidham said. "I do feel a lot more confident having a year under my belt, a year in the system just kind of being more of a professional in general and understanding how we do things here within the organization. I have approached the offseason that way the entire time. My big thing is I want to continue to be a leader on this team and be the best teammate that I can be to the guys in the locker room."

Whoever wins the quarterback competition will have one of the hardest jobs in all of sports. It’s one thing to be one of 32 people to start as a quarterback in the NFL. It’s another to replace Brady, who played the last 20 years for the Patriots and won six Super Bowls.

It’s not going to be easy for whoever gets the job. For Stidham, he feels prepared after spending last season behind Brady. He said he’s approaching this season with an open mind.

"I consider Tom a really good friend at this point. Obviously, got to learn a ton from him throughout the entire year last year just how he prepares, how he just gets ready for each and every week, how he leads and how he pushes his teammates every week," Stidham said. "There was so much. I can’t just say one thing. There was a lot to take away from being around him every single day.

"I don’t really look at it as replacing Tom Brady. I just want to be myself and I want to be a leader for this team and be the best teammate that I can be for this team."

mdaniels@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @MarkDanielsPJ