When the New England Patriots lost QB Tom Brady to Tampa Bay before the 2020 season, it looked like former Auburn QB Jarrett Stidham might be in line to take over.

Instead, the Patriots brought in fellow former Auburn QB Cam Newton as the starter. Then, this offseason, the Pats drafted Alabama QB Mac Jones in Round 1.

Speaking with media members on Monday, Stidham admitted that his team’s decision to draft a quarterback in Round 1 has motivated him (via AL.com):

“It definitely fires me up,” Stidham said on Monday. “Last year, bringing in Cam before training camp, that fired me up to continue to get better and continue to grow as a player, so definitely fired up to be competing against Mac, Hoy and Cam. It’s a great room, so it’s a lot of fun to be in there, but, yeah, definitely fired up to compete against those guys every day.”

Stidham, Jones and Newton figure to compete for the starting job in New England this fall. Who will win the job?