Belichick won’t go easy on Jimmy G
Whatever love coach has for QB goes out window Sunday
Bill Belichick has a soft spot for Jimmy Garoppolo. That’s not contrived. It’s real.
And while a few years have passed since Garoppolo was Tom Brady’s understudy, and expected heir to the GOAT, Belichick continues to follow Jimmy G’s career and extol his virtues.
But don’t let that fool you. Belichick has no friends during football games. When the Patriots host the 49ers on Sunday, he’ll bury his affection for Garoppolo, and do his best to bury his former secondround pick, instead.
There will be no mercy.
When it comes to winning, Belichick is as ruthless and coldblooded as they come. He tosses out any and all sentiment. And after Sunday’s fiasco against the Broncos, Belichick, who made a few questionable decisions during the game, won’t let up. He badly needs a win.
Any feelings for Jimmy G do not apply, whether or not he remains in the Patriots future down the road.
The Hoodie is sitting at 2-3, sporting a losing record for the first time in October since 2002. Worse, the perennial AFC East champs are in third place in the division behind Buffalo and Miami.
It’s no time to lament and think about what might have been with his long lost, hand-picked successor to Brady.
The Niners are in the way. Garoppolo is a potential threat as the opposing quarterback. And Belichick’s going to do whatever it takes from a coaching perspective to make Jimmy G’s life miserable.
And if anyone should know what buttons to push, and how to defend San Francisco’s quarterback, it’s Belichick.
If he can pull out all the stops to contain Patrick Mahomes in Week 4, holding the Chiefs offense to 19 points, it’s a sure bet he’ll have something special in store for Jimmy G.
Obviously, Garoppolo also has some familiarity with the Patriots and their defense. He practiced against that defense for four seasons.
It’ll be more a matter if Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan can put Garoppolo in positions to succeed, as he did so brilliantly in Sunday
night’s win over the Rams.
Garoppolo threw for 268 yards and three touchdowns after being yanked from the previous game against the Dolphins. Shanahan used plenty of misdirection to give Jimmy G time to get comfortable in the pocket and hit his passes against the Rams.
Now, if former Patriots defensive assistant Brian Flores knew how to rattle Garoppolo, and help him find a seat on the bench in Week 5, you can bet Belichick will know, too.
Of course, Belichick is going to pump up his former quarterback. He’ll kill Jimmy G with kindness during the week and the assault has already begun. Right on cue, Belichick has thrown out the highest praise for Garoppolo along with 49ers tight end George Kittle.
Maybe he’ll even send Jimmy G a text or two, as he’s been known to do since handing Garoppolo over to the 49ers for a second-round pick three years ago on Halloween.
On a video call Tuesday, Belichick didn’t disappoint.
“I think we all know Jimmy’s a quality player and can do all the things that a
good quarterback needs to do,” said Belichick. “He led the 49ers to the NFC Championship last year. We saw a little bit of him at the end of the year last year in preparation for this game and of course the 2020 games that he’s played in, so I don’t think there’s any question about his skill level and what he’s been able to accomplish and what their team’s been able to accomplish.
“We’ll be ready for his best,” Belichick added, “I’m sure we’ll get it. He does a lot of things well.”
On Monday, doing a call with the San Francisco media, Belichick voiced appre
ciation for Garoppolo getting an opportunity to play for “a great coach and a great organization and play on a great team.”
Well, let’s not forget who put him there. Belichick had better offers for Garoppolo, but decided the 49ers would be Jimmy G’s new team, agreeing to a lesser deal than what he might have gotten.
It seems he wanted to give Garoppolo the best chance to succeed, and also keep him out of the AFC.
During Super Bowl week in January, as Garoppolo was preparing to face the Chiefs, Jimmy G was asked about his connection with Belichick, and what the texting with his former coach was all about.
“Just congratulations, things like that. ‘Keep things going,’ ” Garoppolo recalled on Super Bowl Opening Night in Miami. “Coach and I, we had a great relationship. Great guy. Very honest. Very straightforward. I always appreciated him for that.”
Wonder what kind of message Belichick will be texting his penpal after Sunday’s game?
As it is, Garoppolo has been trying to hold onto his starter’s job, amid criticism.
He was able to silence many of the critics with a solid effort Sunday, but he’s not exactly out of the woods.
It may turn out, Garoppolo, who signed a five-year, $137.5 million deal in 2018, is not the long-term answer for the 49ers at quarterback.
But for now, he’s the man.
Kittle, who appeared on the Rich Eisen Show Monday, touted Garoppolo as the 49ers leader.
“In the locker room, I don’t think it’s on the radar at all. We come to work, Jimmy G is our QB. He’s our leader. We rally behind him. I think that’s why he plays so well is because he’s got a team that supports him the way we do,” Kittle said. “And that’s just the way we are every single day in the locker room. I don’t hear anything. All I know is that Jimmy G’s my QB, and he’s going to win us a lot of games. The dude has yet to lose back-toback games in the NFL. That’s a pretty good record too.”
Garoppolo effectively managed the run-heavy offense en route to the Super Bowl last year, but couldn’t deliver in the end against the Chiefs.
Would Belichick have preferred to have kept him in Foxboro? Absolutely, but that’s not how it worked out.
“Everybody here had a lot of confidence in him,” Belichick said of Garoppolo on the Monday call with reporters. “It’s one of those situations where you’re just not able to keep all the players based on how the system is set up. It’s understandable.”
It’ll also be understandable if Belichick puts Jimmy G in a straight-jacket on Sunday and does whatever he can to make the 49ers quarterback look bad.