At least publicly, the Patriots haven't really discussed Jarrett Stidham much.
Bill Belichick hasn't said he's the starter, and even when other players have been asked about him this offseason, there's been a reluctance to go into much detail.
Some have read into that as the team could potentially add a free agent like Cam Newton, while others, like former Patriots tackle Matt Light, knows it's just how things go at One Patriot Place.
“You’re not hearing anything because there’s nothing to be said," he said Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show. "And that is 11 years of being in the system, but in a lot of ways it is 100 percent factual, right? Bill wasn’t lying. He doesn’t know which one of his guys is going to be the guy yet. I think they have a lot of confidence in Jarrett Stidham, I think they have liked what they’ve seen. I think he’s had a pretty good opportunity to study from the best. I think he understands what’s expected of him.
"Can he deliver? I mean there’s a lot of things that need to come together before you can answer that question. Is he capable? Sure. Would Bill say that? Never. There’s just no upside to saying it so he’s not going to do it. So, you’re just going to feel as if there is a lot of uncertainty where there probably is a lot more comfort than you’ll ever realize.
“But, when the bullets are flying for real, we’re going to find out what he can and can’t do and there’s going to be a lot of people chomping at the bit to expose what he can’t do very well and I think Bill is going to do a good job of eliminating how much they expose his kind of lack of experience early in the season. They are going to take care of him and manage him as best they can. What they really need is the offensive line to go above and beyond.”
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