FOXBOROUGH -- Jarrett Stidham's first preseason is in the books and he closed it with a ton of playing time.
The rookie played more than a half against the Panthers last week and then played the entire game against the Giants Thursday night, which the Patriots lost 31-29. Stidham went 18-for-28 with 225 yards, two touchdowns and his only interception of the preseason on a play where he was hit as he threw.
Afterwards, the fourth-round pick was asked to assess his preseason.
"A lot of mistakes. Good learning, great learning," he said. "I've been able to really sit back and watch the film with Josh [McDaniels] and the coaching staff and just figure out what I need to do to get better. That was my whole focus this preseason, was just to get better every single day and continue to grow from game to game."
Playing the entire game allowed him to play with starters Julian Edelman, Demaryius Thomas and Josh Gordon. He had great chemistry with Thomas in particular as the veteran wide out finished with seven catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns.
"Yeah, it was really good. Obviously, he's a phenomenal player," Stidham said of Thomas. "He's been around for a really long time, so it was really good to get some throws in to him and to Josh [Gordon] and Julian [Edelman] – guys that have been in the league a long time. They're great players for a reason. It was a lot of fun."
Now, the question becomes whether or not the team will carry two or three quarterbacks?
If the team only keeps two then veteran Brian Hoyer, who did not play at all in any of the final two preseason games, would be the odd man out. Stidham didn't elaborate much when asked if he believes he could handle being the lone backup.
"I think whatever decision is made, whatever my role is on this team, that's what I'm going to do," he said. "Whatever it is, I'm going to continue to work as hard as I possibly can to do that and to help the team in whatever way I can, so that's kind of how I'm looking at it."
The decision will come by Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m., as that is when every NFL team needs to get its roster to 53 players.
