Pat Patriot
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- Mar 19, 2019
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Somewhat surprisingly, the Patriots dumped quarterback Brian Hoyer on Saturday, leaving a rookie as the backup to Tom Brady. Somewhat not surprisingly, coach Bill Belichick publicly offered no real insight on the decision, or on the possibility of whether Hoyer’s absence is permanent or potentially temporary.
That said, Belichick did not rule out a return by Hoyer to the team he re-joined in 2017, after Jimmy Garoppolo was shipped to San Francisco.
“I thought both players played well in camp,” Belichick told Mike Petraglia of CLNSMedia regarding Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham, via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. “I like both players. In the end, there are a number of considerations that you have to make . . . it’s a long season, so we’ll see what happens.”
Because Hoyer isn’t subject to waivers, he has freedom to go wherever he wants. Or nowhere, sitting tight and waiting for the Patriots to bring him back if/when the need arises or the numbers allow it.
Meanwhile, the XFL should be paying attention to this one. At a time when Commissioner Oliver Luck had been eyeballing the ho-hum competition between Geno Smith and Paxton Lynch in Seattle (they both lost, at least for now), Luck should turn his eyes to Hoyer, who has 37 career NFL starts and who has played well when healthy.