Jarrett Stidham is reportedly dealing with a hip injury but Josh McDaniels sounds optimistic about his future availability

Update 8/21/2020: Jarrett Stidham is reportedly dealing with a hip injury but Josh McDaniels sounds optimistic about his future availability

While Jarrett Stidham’s hip injury forced him to spend the majority of Friday’s walkthrough on the sidelines, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels sounds confident that the 24-year-old will soon be back in increased capacity.

“Coach [Bill Belichick] held him out today, but I’m pretty sure he’ll be out there ready to roll,” McDaniels said about Stidham’s participation in New England’s next practice — one that is projected to take place on Sunday.

The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride, meanwhile, shared some more details about Stidham’s injury. The second-year man reportedly “spent part of Thursday night at Mass. General Hospital, where tests on a lower body injury came back negative.”

Update 8/21/2020: Jarrett Stidham is reportedly dealing with a hip injury; won’t be back at 100 percent for ‘several weeks’

According to NFL Network’s Mike Giardi, Jarrett Stidham’s injury is not to his leg but rather his hip. While the exact nature of the ailment is not known at this point in time, the second-year passer will reportedly be “several weeks before he’s back to 100 percent.”

Original story 8/21/2020: Jarrett Stidham is reportedly dealing with a hip injury and the Patriots will ‘proceed cautiously’

The biggest story of the New England Patriots’ training camp this year is the ongoing quarterback competition between Jarrett Stidham, Cam Newton and Brian Hoyer: one of the three will take over the starting job that was vacated when Tom Brady left the team earlier this offseason. The competition has not seen a clear frontrunner emerge through the first full-speed week of camp, as all three men had their moments and made their mistakes.

However, the scales may have begun tipping in Cam Newton’s favor: not only did the long-time Carolina Panthers quarterback have his best practice to date on Thursday, his main competitor — Jarrett Stidham — is also dealing with a leg injury, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Giardi.

The Patriots will reportedly proceed cautiously when it comes to Stidham’s status, but any missed practice reps will obviously hurt his chances. The second-year man started the week well and continued to make some good throws and decision, but recently has begun having issues with ball placement and throwing interceptions: he registered six picks between Tuesday and Thursday. His leg injury could be a part of that problem.

The situation will be worth keeping a close eye on considering that it could have some impact on the eventual composition of the Patriots’ quarterback depth chart throughout camp and heading into the regular season.