Patriots' Stidham focused on his future, not Brady's

Jarrett Stidham insists he's focused on his future, as opposed to one involving the starting quarterback of the New England Patriots. Stidham, after all, would see a significant change in his responsibilities should six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady leave the team as a free agent in the offseason. Brady, 42, is slated to become a free agent on March 18 for the first time in his 20-year career.

"Right now, I can't really think too much about all of that. I have to worry about what I need to do to prepare to enhance my game, to learn as much as I possibly can," Stidham said, per ESPN. "That's the biggest thing I've focused on, making a big stride from Year 1 to Year 2." Stidham was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He beat out Brian Hoyer for the right to serve as the top backup in New England.

The 23-year-old Stidham completed 2 of 4 passes for 14 yards and an interception in limited work this season. All told, he played a grand total of 15 snaps. Stidham was much busier at Auburn, as he completed 470 of 739 passes for 5,952 yards with 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in the 2017 and 2018 seasons.

Brady finished the regular season having completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His completion percentage was his lowest mark since 2013, and his yards-per-attempt average (6.6) was his lowest since 2002. Brady missed out on a Pro Bowl selection for the first time since 2008, when he tore his ACL in Week 1. A sixth-round pick in 2000, Brady has 74,571 passing yards, 541 touchdown passes and 179 interceptions in 285 career games (283 starts). He ranks behind only Drew Brees on the all-time lists for yardage (77,416) and touchdowns (547).

-- Field Level Media

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