Hoyer learning the Playbook

Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Throw-in
Undrafted Patriots QB has his day


By Rich Garven TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFFmailto:STAFFrgarven@telegram.com

FOXBORO — The Patriots are six days into training camp and it seems a different quarterback’s name has popped up each day. There was, obviously, Tom Brady and, unexpectedly, Michael Vick and Cleo Lemon. On Monday, the Patriots released Matt Gutierrez and signed former Oakland Raider Andrew Walter, ostensibly to light a fire under Brady’s backup, Kevin O’Connell. About the only quarterback not mentioned around here was undrafted rookie Brian Hoyer.

That changed yesterday. Hoyer, fourth on the unofficial depth chart, got quite a bit of work with the first offense during the morning session. Things were not, however, working out well. Hoyer overthrew Wes Welker and underthrew Chris Baker on a couple of tosses to the end zone. He also ran a penalty lap with center Russ Hochstein after a bad snap exchange. “I think the way (quarterbacks) coach (Bill) O’Brien tells it is, you can’t have a bad practice,” Hoyer said. “You might have a bad play here or there, but you have to bounce back.”

Hoyer rebounded in a big way on the final play of practice, successfully threading a conversion pass to a rolling Joey Galloway. It would have been worth two points in a real game; on this day, it scored Hoyer a zillion points in goodwill with his teammates.

The entire offense immediately burst into celebration while the blue-shirted and red-faced defense — coaches included — set off on a jog around the practice field as punishment for failing to hold its ground. “Sometimes you lose sight of it in camp where it’s drill after drill,” Hoyer said. “But (when) you put something on the line — whoever loses is running — it means something, and to come out on top is always good.” Then he wisely and quickly put the play in perspective.

“It’s important (confidence-wise), but it’s just one play at the end of practice,” Hoyer said. “It’s a competitive drill so you want to succeed, but you have to come out here in the afternoon and it’s another practice. So it’s good for that five minutes to celebrate, but you move on.”

Hoyer showed he could move a team in college, passing for 2,404 yards and nine touchdowns as a senior while leading Michigan State to a 9-4 record. He finished his collegiate career ranked second in attempts (896), third in completions (500) and sixth in TD passes (35).

None of that was enough to make Hoyer one of the 11 quarterbacks drafted. Still, some eight teams inquired about his services once the 256th and final choice had been made. The Patriots were one of the first on the phone. That pretty much put an end to the process as far as Hoyer was concerned. “You look at what they’ve done, especially with quarterbacks taken in later rounds or not drafted,” he said. “You come into this system and you learn, and you learn the right way. It’s hard. It’s really hard to get this stuff, especially at the beginning. You just have to keep working at it.”

Hoyer seems to have the tools to do the job. He has decent size at 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds, is extremely athletic — he pitched his high school baseball team, St. Ignatius of Cleveland, to a state title and drew serious attention from pro scouts — and has been cited by coach Bill Belichick for his productivity in college.

The transition to the pros has been daunting nonetheless, Hoyer admitted. What he has tried to do is focus on the daily tasks at hand while keeping an eye peeled for the way Brady and the other QBs conduct their business. “You watch the film, get in the playbook, and just do the best you can,” Hoyer said.

“Do your job. If you try to do too much stuff, it can be a little overwhelming, so I just try to go out there and take care of what I can take care of.”

Hoyer comes across as someone not only willing to learn, but capable of doing it. So what’s it like trying to keep pace on the field and in the film room with Brady, one of the game’s all-time greats?

Well, as expected, it isn’t easy.

Hoyer, though, not only welcomes the challenge, he relishes it.

“It’s really advanced, but that’s the thing — I’m not just trying to play and be an average quarterback,” he said. “I want to try to play up to (Brady’s) level. If you just try to follow his lead and do what he does, I think you’re pointed in the right direction.”