The Patriots may have signed Brian Hoyer to help Mac Jones‘ development, but that’s not how he sees his role. The veteran quarterback made clear Monday that he is in New England to compete for a job, not to serve as a quarterbacks coach for the first-round draft choice.
Hoyer is willing to be an open book for Jones, but Jones first will have to ask.
“I mean, I’m not the quarterback coach, so that’s not really my responsibility,” Hoyer said, via Zack Cox of NESN. “I think if anything, I notice him coming and asking me a lot of questions for me to give my feedback. I remember doing the same thing with [Jarrett] Stidham, what was that, three years ago now. Or Danny Etling the year before that.
“I mean, for me, whether it’s Mac, Jarrett, Cam [Newton] — Cam asked me a question today about something — that’s my responsibility, being the most experienced quarterback in that room, is to kind of share that wealth of knowledge and then go from there.”
The Patriots re-signed Hoyer after drafting Jones. Hoyer, 35, has spent all or parts of six of his 12 seasons in New England, so he has more knowledge of the offense than the other quarterbacks combined.
Still, Hoyer doesn’t view himself as a de facto coach.
“Obviously, I’m the most experienced of the group in this offense and on this team, so to impart that knowledge is obviously a big part of my role here, but also to go out and compete and push those guys every day,” Hoyer said. “So it’s been fun, obviously, to get back with Cam and Stid and then bring Mac along and get to know him. He’s a great kid, and he’s working really hard.”