The first question will be whether the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs even play in Week 4 in the wake of Cam Newton’s positive test for COVID-19.
The league has currently announced plans to move what had been their featured national television game to Monday or Tuesday. But that too could be affected if there are further positive tests.
If the game does get played, the Patriots will have a new starting quarterback as either Brian Hoyer or Jarrett Stidham will take over under center against the Chiefs. It’s likely Newton could miss New England’s Week 5 game against Denver on Oct. 11 at Gillette Stadium too.
The game plan was built for Newton, who presumably took the heavy majority of snaps in practice during the week. It’s unlikely the Patriots would hold anything more than a walk through before a Monday or Tuesday game and even that might not happen if they’re limiting team gatherings out of caution.
Hoyer looks like the slight favorite. The 34-year-old has 38 career starts. He’s in his third stint with the Patriots, but he’s never started a game for New England in parts of five seasons as Tom Brady’s backup. Sixteen of his starts came with the Cleveland Browns where he’s the last starter to have a winning record at 10-6. He was 5-4 with the Houston Texans in 2015, but he’s 1-13 with the Bears, Cardinals and 49ers. In 38 career starts, Hoyer’s teams are 16-22. He’s completed 873 of 1,477 passes for 10,274 yards with 52 touchdowns and 34 interceptions.
Stidham beat him out for the No. 2 job behind Brady in 2019 as Hoyer was cut at the end of preseason. Hoyer signed with the Indianapolis Colts where he backed up former Patriots' backup Jacoby Brissett. Hoyer signed with New England in March, 2020 for a chance to compete with Stidham again when Brady signed with the Buccaneers.
Before Newton signed Stidham was the presumed starter after spending 2019 backing up and learning from Brady. The 24-year-old fourth-round pick from Auburn has just two career completions in four career attempts and one interception in two blowout wins over the New York Jets and one over Washington.
The Patriots have a fourth quarterback on the practice squad. Former Cincinnati Bengal Jake Dolegala is currently on the practice squad. The 6-foot-7, 242-pound 23-year-old signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent last year out of Central Connecticut State where he was a four year starter for the FCS program and had 8,129 yards and 48 touchdowns. He was on the Bengals 53-man roster in 2019 but didn’t dress or appear in a game. He was released on Sept. 5.
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