PATRIOTS MAIL BAG
Q. Does Jimmy Garoppolo have more to gain or lose by playing Sunday? — @The_MagnetMG
A. Garoppolo has everything to gain and nothing to lose. I don't care that his wildly impressive performance has to this point been capped at six quarters. This league is so starved for quarterbacks that he'll earn a heck of a payday from someone. And even if his velocity is down because his shoulder doesn't look right, he'll get credit for playing through an injury, and that praise will hit hyperbolic levels if he plays well. There isn't a long-term injury risk with a grade-2 AC joint sprain if there's another injury. If he lands on it or takes a crushing hit, it'd basically only reset his recovery clock, which has been optimistically estimated at 2-3 weeks. So it's not like Garoppolo is going out there too early after breaking a bone and risking a re-break. This will do nothing but help Garoppolo so long as he feels he can play through it.
Q. Will you miss interviewing Rex Ryan when he inevitably gets canned in Buffalo? — @ConorAKAFrank
A. Absolutely. Ryan is entertaining, and I like dealing with him. I also don't believe his extremely emotional style is conducive to long-term success because he captains an exhausting emotional roller coaster. And with that, when he promises Super Bowl marches, victories on any given week or a defense that he'll turn into the top unit in the NFL (but then ranks 19th), he deserves to be called on it.
And it's unbecoming of a football coach to sound so sensitive when he invites the hype but cowers from the criticism when he falls short of his own expectations. I've been consistently critical of that element of Ryan's personality as it clashes with his coaching resume, but it doesn't mean I don't thoroughly enjoy him as a human being.