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New England Patriots quarterback Jarrett Stidham has not yet started a game in his brief NFL career, but he might get that opportunity in the regular season finale next week.
The Patriots will host the New York Jets in a Week 17 matchup at Gillette Stadium, and they have absolutely nothing to play for. New England is eliminated from the AFC playoff race and cannot climb into the top 10 of the 2021 NFL Draft first round order regardless of how Sunday's results shake out.
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The time has come for Stidham to start. The Patriots should give him a full week of practice reps as the starter and build a game plan around his abilities entering the matchup with the Jets.
All five of Stidham's appearances in his second season have come in garbage time, including his limited action in the second half of Monday night's 38-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Stidham replaced starter Cam Newton with 8:33 remaining in the third quarter and completed four of 11 pass attempts for 44 yards.
"Well, we weren't playing very well. It was the opportunity to give (Stidham) a chance to play," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said in his postgame press conference. "Cam did a good job for us. I mean, that wasn't the problem. We were just not very competitive in the beginning."
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It's difficult to fully evaluate a player if all of his snaps come when the outcome already has been decided. We have yet to see Stidham play four quarters and show what he can do in a normal game setting. Sunday's game versus the Jets is the perfect time to give him that experience.
"I think everybody in the game of football wants to be playing every single week," Stidham said in a video press conference. "Yeah, I would absolutely love to have that opportunity, but again, that's not in my control and I'm not going to focus on it.
"It's not going to change the way I prepare. I prepare like I'm the starter, even going back to last year. That's how I've always prepared each and every week. That's not going to change my mindset. I'm just going to keep grinding and get better next week."
Belichick, as expected, did not say which quarterback he'll start next week. The Patriots head coach has been loyal to Newton the entire season and has started the former league MVP in each game that he's been healthy enough to play.
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But there's little to be gained by giving Newton another chance to start in the last game of the season. Newton has thrown only five touchdown passes with 10 interceptions in 14 starts. The Patriots have thrown the fewest touchdown passes of any team this season. The passing game is a mess, and there are a lot of reasons for that. Newton isn't the only person to blame, but he has struggled to throw the ball effectively nearly the entire season, so it's time for something new.
The Patriots should give Stidham a chance and see how well he handles the opportunity.