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The New England players will start training camp with “pretty much a clean slate,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said when asked on Tuesday if practices will include open competition for the. starting watch post.
The veteran New England players showed up for training camp on Tuesday, and Belichick marked the occasion with a press conference.
“Each of us has to come out and establish our level of performance regardless of role or ability,” Belichick said when asked about the potential of a quarterback competition. “It’s a new season. We did some things in the spring, but it’s really the start of the football season in terms of team building here at training camp. We all have a lot of work to do. It includes us all, so until we go out and do anything, it’s pretty much a clean slate. “
In March, the Patriots re-signed Cam Newton, who started 15 games at quarterback last season, missing one game while in the reserve / COVID-19.
But New England also picked Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with the 15th pick in the NFL Draft on April 29. The Patriots hadn’t drafted a quarterback in the first round since 1993, when they used the No.1 pick on New England player Drew Bledsoe. starting quarterback before Tom Brady began his 19-year run as the Patriots’ No.1 signalman in 2001.
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When New England drafted Jones, Belichick’s answer to the question of a quarterback competition made it less likely.
“Cam is our quarterback,” Belichick said at the time, before the field game of the Patriots’ offseason program. “Anytime Jarrett (Stidham) or Mac are ready to challenge or compete, we’ll see how it goes. “
Stidham has been a New England substitute quarterback for the past two seasons. When Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency after the 2019 season, Auburn’s former QB became the frontrunner to inherit the job with the Patriots until Newton, another Auburn alumnus, became the favorite. arrives on board in July, allowing New England to replace a former NFL. MVP with another.
Of his 147 games in the NFL, Newton has started 146, the only non-rookie being a disciplinary issue that kept him out of the first offensive series.
The Patriots are scheduled to hold their first full team practice on Wednesday. New England opens their pre-season against the Washington soccer team on August 12, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles on August 19 and the New York Giants on August 29.
The Patriots begin their regular season schedule against the Miami Dolphins on September 12.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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