Stidham Speaks on First Experiences as a Raider
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jarrett Stidham has had quite the spring and summer.
From celebrating the birth of his first child in April, to getting traded from the New England Patriots to the Raiders in May, to starting in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game last week, the excitement of the NFL has caught up to the young quarterback after he missed all of last season due to surgery.
Stidham, who was gearing up for a contract year, was not even thinking about a trade going into the offseason.
"Right after the season, I was like, 'OK, [I'm] going into the last year of my rookie contract,' and Mac Jones and I were the only two on the roster and then they brought in Hoyer and then they ended up drafting another quarterback," Stidham said in Monday's media availability. "So I was fully set on just competing and going in there and seeing what I can do and just playing. But obviously it happened there sometime in May.
"It was obviously a thrill to hear because I've been with [Dave] Zieg[ler], and Josh [McDaniels], and Mick [Lombardi], and Carm[en] Bricillo, and Bo [Hardegree] -- all those guys for the last couple of years."
Stidham understands what his current role is on this Raiders roster, and he has embraced it by simply focusing on the things he knows he has power over.
"I think my biggest focus right now is just to compete every single day with these guys -- push all of them as much as I can and help them along the way and just compete and play ball," Stidham said. "I mean, that's all I can focus on right now, that's all I can control. So I'm happy to finally be healthy and just be back out there on the field and just playing football. So it's a lot of fun."
The first-year Raider, who just turned 26 years old on Monday, started for Las Vegas in the Hall of Fame Game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday.
"Definitely some things to work on," Stidham said. "Just try to learn from the film as best I could and take the teaching moments from Josh, and Bo, and Mick, and those guys, and try to come out here today, work on some of those things, and try to progress forward for this week."
One of the biggest highlights of the contest was Stidham's rushing touchdown just before halftime.
"It was great," Stidham said. " ... Basically all 21 other guys were running left -- to my left -- and I just ran right and that's just kind of how it worked out. So I was happy about it."
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