re: Auburn in the NFL

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Patriots rookie QB Jarrett Stidham is the quietest rising star of training camp

By Andrew Callahan | acallahan@masslive.com
Updated Aug 6, 4:01 PM

ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Two years ago, safety C.J. Moore had his chance against Jarrett Stidham.

Moore’s Ole Miss team trailed 38-10 in the second half of a laugher at Auburn, where Stidham was emerging as the latest star quarterback in the SEC. Over a week of preparation and one half of football, Moore had studied the young gunslinger long enough to know what was coming. So when a third-down snap arrived, Moore took off for the deep middle.

“They were always trying to get the deep ball or get it to the slot receiver," he said.

Facing heavy pressure, Stidham dropped in the pocket, stared right and uncorked a rainbow down the sideline. Moore zipped over, arriving a split second too late to ruin Stidham’s receiver or bat away the throw. He’d missed his shot.

Thankfully for Moore, Stidham’s pass fell harmlessly incomplete anyways, and the Tigers scored only six more points in an eventual 44-23 finish.

Fast forward, and Moore is an undrafted free agent with the Lions, Stidham a fourth-round rookie with the Patriots. The former SEC foes have just gone head-to-head again over the final period of Tuesday’s joint practice in Detroit. This time around, Lady Luck sat out the reunion.

None of Stidham’s passes hit the ground.

Stidham went 8-for-8 to cap a day where Tom Brady struggled in live team drills aside from a spectacular 30-yard touchdown to Phillip Dorsett. Through 10 practices, Stidham’s completion percentage in those periods is 10 points higher than Brady’s: 68 percent to 58. Any conversation about quarterback succession is entirely premature.

But calling Stidham one of the early stars of New England’s training camp is almost overdue. Thursday’s preseason opener will mark two weeks since the Patriots first hit the field, and perhaps no one has shown more growth than Stidham.

“He could always really sling it. Now he’s grown as a QB, not staring down receivers," Moore said. "He’s making it tougher on safeties.”

Added Dorsett: “He’s getting more comfortable. He has a live arm, can make any throw. I like Jarrett. It’s the National Football League, and he’s young. Coming in here is tough. A lot of stuff gets thrown at you really fast and changes on the move, so you have to be able to adjust. He’s doing all right."

All right enough two siphon second-team reps from veteran backup in Brian Hoyer last week; all right enough to rebound from disastrous practice starts and pull off marvelous finishes; all right enough to surround himself with starting skill-position players periodically in 11-on-11 periods.

The quality and quantity of Stidham’s reps are both trending up.

Like most young quarterbacks, Stidham does tend to milk his internal clock dry as he waits for an open receiver. Practice rules prohibit quarterbacks from being hit, so he can patiently bounce in the pocket for five-plus seconds or roll out to the white of the sideline in order to extend a play. His teammates are confident the pace and space of his play will quicken and shorten with time.

He’s proven a quick study to date.

“He’s got good command. It’s tough being a quarterback on any team, especially on our offense," running back James White said. "There’s a lot you have to know. He’s trying to put the work in, trying to learn as much as possible, and all of the young guys and us veterans are trying to make him feel comfortable and make some plays for him.”

As teammates have attempted to provide comfort, Stidham’s coaches have knowingly been compounding his problems.

Bill Belichick noted Tuesday that the first 10 practices of training camp are often the most difficult because of how the Patriots schedule daily installations of their offensive and defensive systems. Grasping one playbook would be hard enough, but for a rookie quarterback like Stidham, his plate is full with both executing new offensive play-calls and deciphering an ever-expanding menu of defenses. And yet he hasn’t choked yet.

Stidham has instead gone from surviving hiccups in practice periods to thriving throughout them. He’s built upon the hard-throwing prospect who attracted New England in the draft process to become a developing NFL passer.

And if the Patriots are lucky, he’ll evolve next into a quarterback the team one day says they saw as a rising star all along.

“It’s all your work habits, your study habits, how much you can take at one time ... And he seems real cool and collected," Dorsett said. "He takes the criticism well, doesn’t get down on himself and just goes out here and plays football.”

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