Head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, in their first public comments since Brady’s four-game suspension for the January 2015 Deflategate incident was upheld, said they will keep the focus on the field, and that means preparing Jimmy Garoppolo to start September 11 at Arizona.
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The first practice of many leading up to Garoppolo’s first NFL start on the road against a Cardinals’ defense that is one of the best in the league went well.
“Whatever circumstance you put Tom in, he’s never going to change”, Gronkowski said when asked if he noticed a difference in Brady’s demeanor Thursday. Garoppolo went 4-for-7, and Jacoby Brissett went 4-for-7 with an interception made by linebacker Kevin Snyder on a deflection from corner Darryl Roberts. “But my mindset is basically the same”. First, “Oh my God, just let it die, Goodell” and “We’re on the Jimmy G”. But this is a very top heavy team, and as we saw previous year, after the starters go down there isn’t much depth behind them.
Jimmy Garoppolo faced more than a dozen cameras and a wall of media members after his first public training camp practice of 2016.
The All Pro tight end is also the first football player in recorded history to admit they are not in the best shape of their life.
As dizzying as the last year-plus has been, Garoppolo says he’s embracing the excitement of the moment. “That’s why we play the game”.
Even with Jimmy Garoppolo starting in Brady’s place, the Patriots will be without their two-time MVP for 25 percent of the schedule.
If Garoppolo can get at least a few wins in those first four games, it should be a smooth transition for Brady to come back.
“Just his power of the ball, his accuracy going out there”, Gronkowski said when asked what impressed him about Garoppolo’s opening performance.
“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.
“We’ve all got a lot of work to do and there’s no shortcut to it”, said Belichick. “That’s what we’re going to do”.
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Back to practice. “When you get off five or six months and you’re not competing as an athlete, you want to get back out on the field”.
