Since he became head coach of the Patriots in 2000, Bill Belichick has started five quarterbacks. Five.
Drew Bledsoe started 18 games, Matt Cassel 15, Jacoby Brissett two and Jimmy Garoppolo two. They went 18-19 with those four players as their quarterback with Belichick as their head coach. The Patriots were 219-64 with Tom Brady.
In 2020, Belichick will start his sixth quarterback in his Patriots’ tenure, the fifth not named Brady.
“Well, we’ve played at other times without Tom,” Belichick said on NFL Network on Thursday night, via NESN. “Whether it was the [2008] season after he was injured — we played 15 games with Cassel and went 11-5 — or heading into the ’16 season with Jimmy and then Jacoby, and Tom coming back after the four-game suspension.
“So there have been other times where we’ve dealt with that. We’ll do what we always do, which is try to prepare the team the best that we can, utilize our players and the skills that they have and put ourselves in the best position we can to be competitive and win. That’s what we always do, and we’ll continue to do that.”
The Patriots showed their faith in Jarrett Stidham by what they didn’t do -- or haven’t done yet anyway. They didn’t sign a veteran quarterback or draft one.
Instead, they signed undrafted free agents Brian Lewerke from Michigan State and J’Mar Smith from Louisiana Tech.
The Patriots also have veteran Brian Hoyer.
“Stid worked really hard last year,” Belichick said. “He was our backup quarterback the entire season, and I know he’s working hard in the offseason. I know he’s made a lot of progress in terms of understanding our offense and understanding opponent defenses like all players do from Year One to Year Two.
“I’m sure he will get out there and be ready to go, be prepared, compete hard, and we’ll see where it takes us.”
