No QB Controversy: Belichick Laughs Off Question About Brady, Garoppolo
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady found himself on the bench at the end of New England's 41-14 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, as rookie quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made his NFL debut when the game was out of the Patriots' reach.
Brady had a very unBrady-like night in Kansas City, throwing for just 159 yards and tossing a pair of second-half interceptions. His night came to an end after Husain Abdullah picked him off and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown, putting the game well out of reach for New England.
So in went the rookie, who entered with 10 minutes to go in the contest. Garoppolo led the Patriots to a touchdown on his first NFL drive, finding tight end Rob Gronkowski for a 13-yard strike, and went 6-for-7 for 70 yards in his brief time on the field.
It has long been discussed since the Patriots selected Garoppolo in the second round of this year's NFL draft if he was the guy who would one day take over for Brady, and his performance on Monday night got one reporter wondering if that would happen sooner rather than later.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked following the loss if he would evaluate the quarterback position this week as the Patriots prepare for the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night.
Belichick shot the reporter a look, gave a quick smirk and chuckle while shaking his head, and then moved on. His reaction drew some laughter from the other reporters in the room.
The Patriots head coach was asked about his starting quarterback's performance following the loss, but lumped Brady in with the entire unit.
"I think we all need to perform better as a team," Belichick said.
Through four weeks, Brady is averaging just 197.8 yards per game (the second lowest of his career) and completing just 59 percent of his passes (the lowest of his career). But the quarterback sounded very confident that he and the Patriots will work out their issues in the coming weeks.
Meaning no, there is not a quarterback controversy brewing in New England.
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