There's a quarterback competition in Foxborough this summer, which means media members and fans will be looking more into stats than maybe a normal year.
One of the stats people may attention to most is interceptions, which there have been quite a few of over the first few days.
Jarrett Stidham has six, Cam Newton two and Brian Hoyer one.
Speaking on a video conference after practice Thursday, Hoyer explained why he, and maybe the other quarterbacks, aren't paying much attention to the stats.
"This isn't a game," he said. "This is where we're trying to figure out our teammates. People are learning. You're trying to see what throws you can throw to certain people. I don't ever really (interceptions). Obviously, we watch the film and I watch it again by myself every day. And you just go back and you're learning. I mean, sometimes what you learn in training camp is what helps you figure out what you're going to be able to do during the season. So, I don't really look at that way. Every day you're going out there to obviously perform the best you can, but also figure out what you have and what you can do.
"And so I think there's a lot of it that goes into it that is 'All right, we have this route, I have this guy on this route, this guy's covering him. I'm going to give him a chance on this route and see how it goes one way or the other.' And that's how you learn. That's how you learn your teammates. That's how you learn their little nuances of how they run their routes. And obviously, with the rotation, we're getting reps with everybody. So you're constantly going out there with new guys and you just do what you're coached to do and then when you get a chance to throw to a guy you're trying to, I guess, kind of build that rhythm or compatibility with him, and then you come back and watch it and learn from that."
Following four practices this week, it would seem Newton has a slight edge over the other two, but Bill Belichick has stressed that it's an open competition, which is evident by all three players sharing reps.
