Backups take center stage QB camp

But struggle in Brady’s absence

PATRIOTS NOTEBOOK

FOXBORO — For a brief moment yesterday, the Patriots forged ahead without quarterback Tom Brady because of his Deflategate proceedings. And it wasn’t ideal. Brady missed yesterday’s practice because he had to shift his attention toward today’s court-ordered arbitration meeting in New York, according to sources. The 38-year-old was at Gillette Stadium earlier in the day before preparing to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell under the direction of Judge Richard Berman.

Without Brady, quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Ryan Lindley took control of the offense in a rain-soaked practice. Neither was particularly great, as Garoppolo was 22-of-36 with two interceptions in team drills and Lindley was 10-of-20 with one pick.

To be fair, Garoppolo shouldn’t be faulted for a pair of interceptions that bounced off his targets’ hands and into the grasp of safeties Tavon Wilson and Devin McCourty. But Garoppolo didn’t help himself with a number of errant throws, lowlighted by a pass that sailed over a wide-open Danny Amendola after a broken coverage in the end zone.

It’s a far cry from Brady’s string of performances through training camp. Brady, who is still fighting the legitimacy of his fourgame suspension, has completed 192-of-244 passes (78.7 percent) with three interceptions in team drills, and he has been surgical throughout each session.

Garoppolo is 184-of-287 (64.1 percent) with seven picks, and Lindley is 19-of39 with two interceptions.

As for Brady’s availability for tomorrow’s preseason opener against the Packers, that has yet to be decided, according to sources. Bill Belichick, who has never tipped his hand about preseason playing time, said those discussions would continue today.

“We’ll probably talk about that tomorrow,” Belichick said. “Today’s really kind of a combination practice for us. We’ve got a little bit on Green Bay, but there are a lot of things we just need to work on no matter who we were playing or what we were doing. So we’ll get through today and then talk about that tomorrow.”

Lindley made some important progress in practice. He no longer needed offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to show him the play sheet before hitting the huddle, so Lindley is slowly picking up his general responsibilities in the offense.

It’s a tough learning curve for anyone to pick up an offense on the fly just before a preseason opener, but that’s what the Patriots need out of Lindley with tomorrow’s game on the horizon.

“Right now, I think it’d be extremely limited as far as what we throw out there,” Lindley said. “I can take a snap and throw a football, and I know for a very limited amount what we do, but that’ll grow each day. It’s grown each day since the first day I stepped out here. We’ll be ready to go (tomorrow), and whatever we get out there we’ll do.”

The Patriots want Lindley to be a competent backup for Garoppolo in case Berman upholds Brady’s ban. Otherwise, don’t expect Belichick to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster for just the second time since 2009.

For Lindley, though, he was thrilled to get another opportunity after dangling in unemployment through the offseason. That had been a steep fall after the Cardinals needed him to start their playoff loss to the Panthers in January due to a rash of injuries ahead of him on the depth chart.

“To be sitting at home and getting a call anywhere is great,” Lindley said. “But then you go to the perennial, the reigning Super Bowl champs and a team like the New England Patriots, it’s a quarterback’s dream. It’s a system that’s very challenging of the quarterback. As a competitor, you want to be here.”

Jaw dropper

Pats punter Ryan Allen went to Louisiana Tech with former Jets linebacker IK Enemkpali, who broke quarterback Geno Smith’s jaw yesterday. Allen didn’t know about the fight in the Jets locker room when he was asked about Enemkpali.

“He‘s a great guy,” Allen said. “I had a blast playing with him at Louisiana Tech.”

When Allen was updated on the situation, he said, “I don’t know anything about it. But other than that, I enjoyed playing with him for a few years.”