Getty Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer
Could the New England Patriots really go back to Brian Hoyer at quarterback after the way he played on Monday against the Kansas City Chiefs?
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Hoyer Getting a Chance to Redeem Himself?
Patriots insider Paul Perillo of Patriots.com thinks Hoyer will get a shot at redemption.
He made his bold prediction on the most recent episode of Patriots All-Access. Perillo points to Hoyer’s experience in the offense and the drastically abbreviated time for preparation due to the positive COVID-19 tests that led to the game being rescheduled.
The Latest Info Leans More Toward Stidham
CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora and several other news and rumors sources on social media are reporting Stidham as the favorite to start unless Newton is cleared to play.
If Cam Newton is unable to play this week, whenever the Patriots end up playing, Jarrett Stidham would be in line to start I’m hearing. Newton has been taking part in team zoom meetings.
Based on what we saw on Monday night vs. the Chiefs, Stidham is an obvious upgrade over Hoyer, but probably still not polished enough to start in place of Newton.
However, there is almost no way to know if Newton can be prepared enough to perform after being quarantined with COVID-19.
How Newton Could Possibly Play
Newton has reportedly been asymptomatic, which means that he could potentially return to the team for Monday’s game. Newton has to remain asymptomatic, and he also has to test negative for COVID-19 two times in a row on tests that are more than 24 hours apart.
At this point, we don’t know if he has tested negative in any of his subsequent evaluations since he initially tested positive last week. Newton has been working remotely. However, if the coaching staff doesn’t feel comfortable with him playing after not practicing for more than a week, it might be a safer decision to go with Stidham.
On paper, it would appear the Patriots should be able to handle the Broncos–even without Newton–but it’s hard to tell. We should know more about the Patriots’ starting QB on Saturday night.