WATCH & LEARN
Brady fill-in impresses
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The passing of the baton, temporary as it may be, began in earnest Thursday.
While a capacity crowd at the practice fields just outside Gillette Stadium chanted Tom Brady’s name, the Patriots didn’t waste any time trying to prepare replacement Jimmy Garoppolo to fill in next month when Brady serves his four-game Deflategate suspension.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick had been coy on the subject Wednesday, but it was The Garoppolo Show as soon as New England shifted to the team portion of its first practice of training camp.
While Brady watched or worked on an adjacent field with backups, Garoppolo took every snap with the starting offense against the No. 1 defense when the Patriots were in 11-on-11 drills during the two-hour workout in sticky, 90-degree heat.
With Garoppolo set to face the Cardinals’ No. 1ranked defense in the season opener, Thursday’s rotation was a clear sign Belichick feels there is no time to waste in preparing a quarterback who threw just 31 passes combined in his first two NFL seasons.
Belichick did not speak to the media Thursday, but Garoppolo tried to play it cool afterward in front of more than 50 lo- cal and national reporters and photographers.
“Nothing has really changed,” Garoppolo said, noting he had gone through a similar situation last summer while Brady first appealed the decision in the courts. “When they put me in for the reps I’m in for, I’ll go out there, do my best and do whatever the coaches ask. But my mindset is basically the same.”
Thursday’s practice was non-contact and held in shorts, but the Patriots had to like what they saw from the Eastern Illinois product, a second-round pick in 2014 who has never started an NFL game.
According to one media count, Garoppolo completed 18 of his 21 passes in 11-on-11 drills against the starting defense, a solid figure that included him connecting on 17 of his final 18 throws.
Of course, Garoppolo had the Patriots’ dynamic — and terrifying, if you’re an opposing defensive coordinator — tandem of tight ends in Rob Gronkowski and ex-Giant Martellus Bennett as his top targets.
But at least on Day 1, Belichick gave Garoppolo the keys to the Lamborghini and Garoppolo not only didn’t crash it, but he looked pretty darn comfortable behind the wheel.
“Just his power of the ball, his accuracy going out there,” Gronkowski said when asked what impressed him about Garoppolo’s opening perfor- mance. “The way he moves the pocket. I like how he can scramble out and keep it going if everything’s not going right.”
Brady, who didn’t speak Thursday and has not addressed the media since waving the white flag on his Deflategate appeal two weeks ago, went through the practice methodically and unemotionally.
Brady worked with the starters during 7-on-7 drills but didn’t appear to acknowledge the crowd’s cheers and chants. He also definitely had no use for the huge media throng still waiting to hear his thoughts on not opening the season as the Patriots’ No. 1 quarterback for the first time since 2001.