Dante Scarnecchia, who retired as the Patriots’ longtime offensive line coach this offseason, said Monday he anticipates some changes in the New England offense as it transitions from Tom Brady to Jarrett Stidham.
Speaking with SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday, Scarnecchia pointed to a few of the biggest changes that will be facing the Patriots’ offense in 2021.
“He’s a different guy in a couple of ways,” Scarnecchia said of Stidham, who is set to enter his second season in the NFL. “No. 1, he doesn’t have the wealth of experience that Tom has. There’s no doubt about that, and you have to concede that. Yes, there’s going to be some things where he’s going to hold the ball longer than you want it to be held, but that’s all about growing up in this league, and you know that as well as I do. You know, those young guys, they take some time.”
Scarnecchia said Stidham showed enough in 2019 to make him optimistic for the future.
“I would say this for Jarrett,” Scarnecchia said. “He’s a bright kid, and he’s a guy, who when he doesn’t know, he’ll take off. He showed in the preseason last year that he’s got some skills and he knows when to get out of there and where the escape points may be. And when he gets out of there, he also knows he better get down, because he knows better than to try to run through guys as well. You’re not running through many guys in this league. So there’s going to be some growing pains. There’s no doubt about it.
“But the guy does have skills,” Scarnecchia added. “He’s got a great mind. He cares. He shows up early. He goes home late. I wish him nothing but the best.”
Scarnecchia was asked what he’d tell the offensive line when it came to Stidham if he was still coaching.
“I would just say, ‘Hey, listen fellas, we’ve got to do everything we can to make this guy as comfortable as we can,’ and I’m sure the guys that are going to coach those guys this year are saying exactly that,” he said. “ ‘We’ve got to be as good as we can be every down and give this guy all the support we possibly can and let him get comfortable and build confidence and be the kind of player that we want him to be and that he wants to be, more importantly.‘”
In three regular-season games in 2019, Stidham went 2 for 4 for 14 yards and an interception.
Cole Popovich and Carmen Bricillo are expected to handle the offensive line for the Patriots in 2020.
