Brady is allowed to practice with the team during training camp and play in any preseason games. “Just hasn’t been real fun and energetic and being the real leader”. “You know I’m still young, I still feel really good”. This is definitely new territory for him.
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While he certainly wasn’t rooting for Brady to be sidelined, Garoppolo recognizes what is immediately ahead.
“We have finally some definition with Tom’s situation, so our priority now then is to get Jimmy [Garoppolo] ready for the start of the season, for the Arizona game”, Belichick said. Garoppolo could go 4-0 and look like an absolute stud, but he won’t steal Brady’s job.
“I think he’s not handling it as best as he [could]”.
But the best reason to not worry about the Brady suspension?
How Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels accentuate Garoppolo’s strengths within the context of the offense will be interesting to see.
The majority of Patriots fans who show up for the first day of training camp are, well, Patriots fans.
If he needed any reminder of that status, he got it Thursday when he was greeted by cheers as he walked onto the field for his third National Football League training camp. He’ll get some work in. He’s working toward October and he’s going to have to go on ice for four weeks. But even without Brady commanding the crew, Garoppolo could still shine and help the team overcome the four games they’ll be going without their leader. “He hasn’t acknowledged anyone in the crowd and he obviously hasn’t spoken to anyone, and he sneaks on and off the field through the back entrance and exit. I like how he can scramble out and keep it going if everything’s not going right”. They signed Martellus Bennett to be the opposite big man TE to Gronk, they traded away talented-but-controversial DE Chandler Jones for O-linemen Jonathan Cooper in hopes of protecting Brady more, they also signed another small, shifty receiver in Chris Hogan as well as picked up DE Chris Long.
“I’ve been preparing to be the starter since the first day I walked in here, and that’s just the mindset – every competitor has that mindset” Garoppolo said.
Normally, this would be an open and shut case. Due to the circumstances that the Patriots are facing for the first quarter of the season, they just need him not to screw up. “When they have that edge, it makes you bring it up a notch, too”.
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“I’m very grateful for the overwhelming support I’ve received from Mr. Kraft, the Kraft family, coach Belichick, my coaches and teammates, the NFLPA, my agents, my loving family and most of all, our fans”, Brady wrote on Facebook.
