DON’T BET ON IT!

Tom Brady Wally-Pipped Drew Bledsoe back in 2001, but there is no chance Jimmy Garoppolo can pull a Wally Pipp on Brady now... unless Garoppolo lights it up the first four weeks and Belichick gets so full of himself he tries to prove it’s been all about him and not Brady the last 15 years.

Even if he has the urge, Belichick can always say he went 11-5 with Matt Cassel in 2008 after Brady tore his ACL in the first game, although New England did miss the playoffs.

If the Patriots go 4-0 and Garoppolo has 10 TDs and no INTs while Brady is serving his Deflategate suspension... even if Belichick thinks to himself about sticking with Garoppolo, he will never act on it. Brady will start week five in Cleveland.

The issue did come up twice last week in the first three days of Patriots training camp. In a long opening address Wednesday before he took any questions, Belichick said, “Tom will return as the starting quarterback when he comes back, but in the meantime we have to prioritize the first part of our schedule and that’ll be to get Jimmy ready to go.”

Then on Friday, when he was asked if he had ever named a Week 5 starter in training camp, he mumbled, “I don’t know.” It was followed with a question about what happens if Garoppolo plays better. It’s always fun to watch Belichick when he’s annoyed because he is so annoying himself. “Look, I told you what is going to happen,” he said. He cut off another follow up asking if there was any chance for Garoppolo to keep the job. “Jesus Christ,” Belichick said.

Brady and Belichick are the best coach-QB combination in NFL history, but if you don’t think Belichick is capable of making cold and heartless decisions, well, you haven’t been paying attention to the history of the hoodie.

He ran the immensely popular Bernie Kosar out of Cleveland in 1993, cut him during the season and Browns fans never forgave him.

Jets linebacker Mo Lewis changed the course of NFL history in the second game of the 2001 season with his vicious hit on Bledsoe near the sideline on a third down play. Bledsoe came out for the next series, but eventually left the game because he suffered a concussion on the Lewis hit and he was woozy. He was replaced by Brady.

When Bledsoe was checked out after the game, his heart rate was increasing. After a concussion, it usually slows down. He was rushed to the hospital and nearly died in the ambulance. He had a sheared blood vessel in his chest and was bleeding internally.

Bledsoe was cleared to play two months later. Brady was 5-2. Bledsoe, who was 5-13 in games he started for Belichick, expected the coach to give him back his job. Starters, especially established veteran quarterbacks, don’t often lose their jobs because of injury. Belichick didn’t even give Bledsoe the chance to compete with Brady in practice. Belichick never made any promises to Bledsoe and, of course, he made the right decision to stick with Brady.

“There are no promises in professional sports, and anybody who thinks there are, they’re just plain foolish,” Bledsoe told me a couple of years ago. “That’s no slight on anybody. That’s just the way it is. When I came back and my job wasn’t waiting there for me, I certainly was pissed off about that. I didn’t feel that it was right. I felt like I had been wronged.”

Bledsoe was traded to Buffalo for a firstround pick after the season.

Of course, there are major differences between Brady vs. Bledsoe and Brady vs. Garoppolo:

l Belichick actually wanted to start Brady to open the 2001 season. He drafted him in the sixth round in 2000 and although Brady threw only three passes as a rookie, he outplayed Bledsoe in his second training camp. Belichick backed off because Robert Kraft loved Bledsoe and only months earlier had signed him to a $100 million contract. Belichick was also gun shy after the chaos he caused in Cleveland with his treatment of Kosar.

l Brady is Belichick’s guy. They have made each other’s careers. Bledsoe was drafted by Bill Parcells in 1993 and Belichick was not a fan.

l Brady has been to six Super Bowls and won four and is the best QB in NFL history. Bledsoe got the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996 when Belichick was on Parcells’ staff, but New England lost.

What could be Belichick’s end game?

Garoppolo is signed through 2017 and if he plays well, there will be a market for him and Belichick could perhaps get a first-round pick. Or keep him for another year and see what happens with Brady. After Cassel played well in 2008, Belichick traded him along with linebacker Mike Vrabel to Kansas City for a second-round pick.

Brady will be 39 on Wednesday. He said last year he wants to play another 10 seasons. Realistically, he probably has two high level seasons remaining. None of the previous Brady backups — Cassel, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett — have done anything after leaving New England. Belichick may want to try and find a way to keep Garoppolo after investing four years in him. He picked N.C. State’s Jacoby Brissett in the third round and he could replace Garoppolo waiting for Brady to retire.

20 & COUNTING FOR DALLAS

For those keeping score, the Cowboys have gone the last 20 seasons without making it to the Super Bowl. In that time, 19 different teams — 12 in the NFC and seven in the AFC — have made it. The Cowboys, Washington, Vikings and Lions are the only NFC teams not to play in any of the last 20 Super Bowls. Carolina, which entered the league the same season the Cowboys last made the Super Bowl, have been to two Super Bowls. And now the Cowboys will start the season with three defensive starters suspended for violating the substance abuse policy, guaranteeing Dallas will at least lead the NFL in one defensive category. Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will sit four games, linebacker Rolando McClain will miss 10 games and defensive end Randy Gregory, who was to be suspended four games, is subject to a longer suspension after another violation. He has checked into a rehab facility. Jason Garrett has found a way to look at the glass one-quarter full instead of three-quarters empty. “I love the culture of this team,” he said. “I love the character of this team.”

HIGH AND LOW

Ryan Fitzpatrick, going into his 12th season, is making $12 million on his one-year deal with the Jets. In terms of average salary, that puts him at No. 23 on the list of QBs, according to Spotrac. He is $4 million behind Andy Dalton, who is No. 22. The only presumed starters behind him: RG3, Jared Goff, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Blake Bortles, Mark Sanchez, Blaine Gabbert and Derek Carr. And Sanchez is the only QB below Fitz to have played more than five years... I think it’s a good idea that the NFL is allowing Josh Gordon to be around the Browns when he serves his four-game suspension at the beginning of the season for violating the substance abuse policy. Gordon needs structure if he’s going to stay clean. But it is kind of ridiculous Brady is banned from being around the Patriots during his suspension... Victor Cruz and Odell Beckham have been on the field together for less than seven quarters. Beckham missed the first four games of his rookie year in 2014 before making his debut against Atlanta. Then Cruz suffered the horrific knee injury in the third quarter the next week in Philly and missed all last season with a calf injury that eventually required surgery. In their one full game together, Cruz had three catches for 22 yards and OBJ had four catches for 44 yards with a TD. If they can each stay healthy, they are going to put up huge numbers with Eli Manning having mastered Ben McAdoo’s offense.

FIVE—MINUTE RULE

Tom Coughlin is now working in the football operations department at the NFL offices in Manhattan. How much will Coughlin fine Roger Goodell out of his $40 million salary if he’s not five minutes early to a meeting? Coughlin will be 70 years old going on 40 on Aug. 31, but age should not be a factor with him if he pursues a head coaching job after the season... Brett Favre becomes the second Jets quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he is inducted in Canton on Saturday night, Aug. 6... Former Bucs and Colts coach Tony Dungy is also being inducted. When I spoke to him after Dennis Green recently passed away, he said he was so grateful for the four seasons he worked as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator under Green from 1992-95. He said Green believed in allowing his coaches to have a family life and after Dungy’s son James committed suicide in 2005, he told Green how he treasured his years in Minnesota even more because he was able to spend so much time with his son. The Giants acquired Dungy in a trade with the 49ers in 1980 in exchange for Ray Rhodes. He didn’t make it out of training camp for Big Blue and started his coaching career with the Steelers in 1981. Dungy and Rhodes each went on to be NFL head coaches.