Jarrett Stidham: I would absolutely love to have the opportunity to start

[Billy Buffalo]

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In four of the five games Jarrett Stidham has played in 2020, the Patriots have been trailing by double digits with the offense struggling to get anything going.

It’s largely been mop-up duty, and is one factor for why he’s 22-of-44 passing this season for 256 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He was 4-of-11 for 44 yards in his latest appearance on Monday night.

With the Patriots now 6-9 and guaranteed a losing record for the first time since 2000, Stidham said following Monday’s loss to the Bills he’d love to have the chance to start Week 17.

“I think everybody in the game of football wants to be playing every single week,” Stidham said. “Yeah, I would absolutely love to have that opportunity [to start], but that’s not in my control. I’m not going to focus on it. It’s not going to change the way I prepare.”

Asked for his response to Stidham saying he’d like to play a full game, Cam Newton said he wasn’t going to engage in a back-and-forth.

“My job is to be the best teammate I could possibly be, be the best player that I could possibly be for this team, and that’s what I’m going to continue to do,” Newton said.

Stidham expressed his gratitude for the opportunities he’s been given, saying there’s no substitute for in-game experience. And he noted that even though he doesn’t get that much practice time, he knows New England’s scheme well enough to run it.

“I take a lot of pride in understanding our offense, knowing what we do and knowing the intricacies of what we do,” Stidham said. “And so whether or not I get reps or not, that’s out of my control. And I can’t look at it as I didn’t get enough reps or this or that — I don’t look at it like that. I look at it like, I know how to execute this offense. I know what we’re trying to do. And if I get that opportunity, then I need to go in there and execute.”

Even if Stidham gets starters reps and performs well in Week 17 against the Jets, it likely won’t be enough to stop New England from having a large question mark at quarterback heading into 2021.