Cut to heart of matter
Sitting Brady right decision for Belichick
FOXBORO — Tom Brady wants to play Friday night against the Carolina Panthers. He wants to get into that preseason game and play some snaps against the Super Bowl runners-up.
That was one of the most significant takeaways from his press conference yesterday. He’s itching to play in the worst way.
Let’s just say this is one wish that shouldn’t be granted.
Brady’s competitive desires certainly are understandable. He always has been this driven. It would be more of a shock if he didn’t want to play.
But in this instance, Bill Belichick needs to exercise some tough love, much like he did Thursday night before the game against the Chicago Bears when he sent Brady home with a cut on his throwing thumb.
Jimmy Garoppolo, who likely will start the first four games of the season in Brady’s suspension-induced absence, needs the time. He needs to start a game in a hostile environment because that’s what he’s going to face Week 1 in Arizona.
He needs to be with the top unit from the start and work his way with them into the third quarter, which is the typical protocol for the third preseason game.
He needs to start against that awesome Panthers defensive front seven and get a true feel, given he will face similarly stout units on the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills in the first quarter of the season.
It doesn’t make sense to have Brady relieve Garoppolo and play during garbage time with the subs. His best opportunity to get in a few series was last week against the Bears at Gillette Stadium, but that was shot when he lost a fight with a pair of scissors while trying to get something out of his shoe.
He called it a “silly accident.” It’s unfortunate for Brady, but that’s the hand he was dealt — no pun intended.
The competitor in Brady hates giving up any time, but that’s his reality. Jimmy G needs all the time and reps he can get. Brady knows that, but it’s still hard for the 39-year-old quarterback to surrender anything.
“I’d like to be out there every time I get a chance to play. You only get so many opportunities a year,” he said.
Brady acknowledged he has only “so many opportunities left in my life.”
“So I’d like to take advantage of any opportunity, any and all of them if possible,” he said. “When you see your teammates out there in their uniforms and ready to go, you want to be out there with them.”
That’s Brady being Brady, and that’s fine. But Belichick has to be Belichick and do what he usually does — and that’s what’s best for the team.
By the sound of it, the Patriots coach will stay the course.
“All three quarterbacks are extremely important. Jimmy’s preparation for the Arizona opener is the most important,” Belichick said when asked about giving Brady reps Friday. “Nothing’s changed. Nothing’s going to change. That’s the way it’s going to be.”
Asked if he believed he needed game reps before suiting up against the Browns in Week 5 when he’ll be back following his suspension, Brady didn’t overlook the dynamics in play with respect to Garoppolo.
“I don’t think any (reps) hurt, so I think just do the best you can do. We’re preparing a lot of guys to get ready to play,” Brady said. “I fit into that, but so do a lot of other guys. I’m just taking the advice of coach (Belichick), and whatever he wants to do, I’m going to do everything I can to be ready to go when I am called upon. That’s what my responsibility is, so that’s what I’m preparing to do.”
A week from Saturday, Brady essentially has to disappear from the team and Gillette Stadium for a month, thanks to the heavy-handed, four-game Deflategate suspension he fought just short of the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn.
Of course, none of this is sitting well with him. It seems like it’s starting to get to him already, between a few fits he’s thrown in practice and the careless scissors episode.
Naturally, he made a compelling case for why getting reps would be beneficial for him.
“You just have to feel things out, and the game is really the only place to get it because it’s regular speed. You don’t know what’s coming,” Brady said. “We prepare, but we don’t obviously get to walk through the looks that we’re going to get. When you get out there, you just have to make good decisions and go play quarterback the way that I’ve always tried to do.”
All true. But the timing’s off. It’s not ideal to get him those reps Friday. It’s not what’s best for Garoppolo, and that’s the bottom line priority for Belichick right now.