After watching Jarrett Stidham throw a pick-six during his first appearance of the regular season on Sunday, it appears the Patriots might be having some second thoughts about their backup quarterback situation.
According to ESPN.com, the Patriots have signed veteran Cody Kessler, who started four games for the Jaguars last season.
Although it's not clear if Kessler will move into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart behind Tom Brady, one thing is clear: Bill Belichick definitely wasn't thrilled with Stidham's performance during New England's 30-14 win over the Jets.
The Patriots coach didn't exactly give Stidham a glowing review after the game.
"Well, we'll look at the film," Belichick said when asked about the rookie's performance. "There will be a lot of things we can do better there -- coaching, playing. There's room for improvement from everybody. Hopefully we'll all get back to work this week and try to take another step forward."
With the Patriots leading 30-7 in the fourth quarter, Belichick decided to pull Brady from the game, and just four plays later, Jamal Adams made Belichick pay for that decision when he returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown.
At that point, Stidham was immediately pulled from the game and replaced by Brady, who served as New England's quarterback for the team's final three possessions. The rookie quarterback finished the game 2 of 3 for 14 yards.
Stidham, who was selected during the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, beat out Brian Hoyer for the backup quarterback job after an impressive preseason where he threw for 731 yards, which ranked second in the NFL. Although the Patriots probably would've preferred to sign Hoyer, that wasn't an option this time around, because he signed with the Colts shortly after being cut by New England in August.
By signing Kessler, the Patriots now have the option of putting an experienced quarterback behind Brady. Kessler has been in the NFL since 2016 when the Browns made him a third round pick. Although Kessler has gone just 2-10 during his three seasons as a starter, he did finish with a .500 record (2-2) last seaspn for a Jaguars team that finished 5-11.