Brissett finished the game, completing 11 of 19 passes for 103 yards, and he also ran in a 27-yard touchdown. Garoppolo, of course, was starting only because Tom Brady is serving a four-game suspension in the wake of the Deflategate scandal.
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As the third-string, third-round draft pick celebrated with his teammates, the stadium public address blasted out The Doors singing, “Hello, I love you, won’t you tell me your name”.
On a quick turnaround week, Garoppolo remained sidelined during the team’s Week 3 Thursday Night Football game.
Personality-wise, Brissett has been a flawless fit with the the team-first, no-nonsense Patriots, too.
Brissett was injured in Thursday’s 27-0 victory over the Houston Texans, but multiple media outlets reported that the diagnosis is not as bad as initially feared.
“I guess we’re just focused on the next week”.
Coach Bill Belichick said there were no special instructions for the rookie to be cautious.
Brissett impressed in his first National Football League start, which occurred because of the shoulder injury Jimmy Garoppolo suffered Sunday.
Not long after Belichick hung up the phone came a report that Brissett injured the thumb on his throwing hand and may need surgery. Other than that the passing attack didn’t do all that much to either win or lose the game for New England, which was pretty much part of the plan that Brissett executed with solid poise in a tough situation. Because if he had said something, the second half wouldn’t have looked as similar as the first half.
ESPN followed up that report indicating that the Patriots were still evaluating the issue and would know more this Monday, after the players have the weekend off.
Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler, who was at the helm when the Denver Broncos handed the Patriots their first loss last season, dealt with frightful field position all night Thursday, and the results just weren’t there.
“The idea, fellas, has always been and will continue to be, is to get control of the game somehow”, said Parcells.
BELICHICK A BIG WINNER: While Brissett got the win in his first start, Dan Shaughnessy writes that Belichick was the No. 1 story line, with the Patriots delivering another strong message to Roger Goodell and the rest of the NFL. Osweiler went 2 of 8 on deep passes for 34 yards with an interception.
With Tom Brady still suspended one more week, the Patriots do not appear to have a quarterback on their roster ready to start in week four.
Houston, who are coming off consecutive 9-7 seasons, added additional speed and Osweiler in the offseason in a move they hoped would finally give them some stability at quarterback. He’s just a hardworking kid that’s really dedicated to doing what’s right for the team and trying to improve.
Field goals can only be attempted after a pile of snow is dumped on the spot, in honor of another Belichick classic (why wasn’t that called Plowgate?).
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“He’ll probably get another week to do it again”, Doeren said. He hurt his hamstring earlier this year and was ruled out of the first two games this season.
