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| It seems that New England would rather have Hoyer, right, in the No. 2 role, rather than Mallett. (US Presswire) |
After so much offseason talk last year about Ryan Mallett, his behavior at the NFL combine, his admitted drug use, whether he blew off pre-draft meetings with teams and how far he would fall in the draft, we haven’t spent much time talking about him during the regular season.
That probably has something to do with the fact he was active for only one game this season as he sat behind Tom Brady and Brian Hoyer in New England. And while Mallett believes he’s in the perfect situation with the Patriots, the team might not feel he’s ready to handle the weight of being the franchise’s No. 2 quarterback.
That’s the word from the Boston Herald, which writes that two sources say the team will tender Hoyer because the Patriots don’t believe Mallett is quite ready.
Hoyer is a restricted free agent, and if New England tenders him at the first-round compensation level, that would be worth $2.742 million for a one-year deal. As the Herald writes, “it would probably preclude other teams from making a play for Hoyer.”
Mallett, though, might be OK with the arrangement for now.
“It’s been awesome,” he said during the Super Bowl media day. “It’s good for me to sit back and watch and not have to do media stuff all the time and be out in the spotlight. But as a competitor, you want to be on the field and be playing in the game.”
As Green Bay’s Matt Flynn has proven, even if you have one of the best quarterbacks in the league, having a backup that can enter a game on short notice and play well is an important need -- and a need that is not overly common in the NFL.
For instance, during Super Bowl XLVI after Tom Brady took a sack from Justin Tuck, it appeared that he might be hurt. Hoyer began warming up, and New England had to be confident enough in Hoyer that he could play immediately and play well.
For now, it’s clear the Patriots don’t feel that way about Mallett.
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