The New England Patriots rarely, if ever, carry three quarterbacks on their active roster. They had Tom Brady, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jacoby Brissett in the fold in 2016, but Brady was suspended to start that season, so that's why they kept the two young guns around.
Aside from that, keeping three quarterbacks has been an anomaly. But the Patriots signed former Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Cody Kessler, last week to provide depth at quarterback. And it doesn't seem that he's going anywhere at least in the near future.
At a press conference on Friday afternoon, Belichick praised Kessler for his work and said that the veteran looks like he has been here longer than two weeks.
"Cody’s done a nice job for us," Belichick said. "He’s really smart. He’s come in here. He’s learned — I mean, he’s out there calling plays, signaling receivers, making adjustments like he’s been here longer than two weeks or whatever it is. So, he’s picked things up very quickly. He has a good rapport with all of the players. He’s willing to do whatever we ask him to do. He works extremely hard."
Despite his praise for Kessler, Belichick was adamant that adding Kessler to the quarterback room didn't reflect poorly on either Jarrett Stidham or Tom Brady.
"They’re all contributing," Belichick said. "I’m glad they’re all on the team. We only have to play one, but that’s — you never know."
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It's still unclear exactly why the Patriots signed Kessler, but it could've been just to add another veteran quarterback to the room. Jarrett Stidham threw an ugly pick in limted action against the New York Jets, so perhaps Belichick wants to have a veteran available who knows the system just in case. Because as Belichick said, "you never know."
It's also worth noting that Brady was listed on the injury report ahead of the team's Week 3 game with the Jets while dealing with a minor calf ailment. Having Kessler around could give the 42-year-old passer more time to rest and maintain any minor maladies as needed.
Either way, Belichick's comments about Kessler seem to indicate that the team is comfortable rolling with three quarterbacks moving forward. But eventually, one would assume they will go back to carrying the customary two that Belichick seems to prefer keeping.
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