Is Jimmy Garoppolo Ready?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's most recent appeal of his DeflateGate suspension was denied on Wednesday, making it very likely he'll have to sit out the first four games of the regular season.
So that is leaving most of New England wondering if backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is ready for the spotlight, even for just a month? The Boston Herald's Jeff Howe joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Thursday, and said Jimmy G is as ready as he can with limited in-game action but strong showings in mini camps and the preseason.
"He has grown so much over the last couple of years, you have to like the arc his career has taken. He hasn't really had any setbacks and it's just been steady and consistent since August of his rookie year when he kind of saw the light," said Howe. "He's continued to improve as much as you'd like to see him improve. I don't know if that will translate to on-field brilliance, because remember, he played really well in practice and the preseason as a rookie, impressed a lot of people, and then came in in the regular season finale and played very poorly against the Bills (going 10-of-17 for 90 yards). He also played really well in an extremely limited snapshot against the Chiefs in 2014 (going 6-of-7 for 70 yards and a touchdown) .
"You can't really predict how it will go because he hasn't really taken meaningful reps against a first team defense that is trying to rip his head off," added Howe. "The best case scenario is their defense is still pretty loaded, and their skill positions are still pretty loaded. If he can get the ball out quickly to Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola, they should be alright and be able to compete. Maybe they'll pull off an improbable win against he Cardinals in the opener. If they can get to 2-2 or 3-1, who is to say Tom Brady isn't going to get them to 10-2, 11-1 down the stretch and right where they usually are at the end of the season?"
Howe and Toucher also debated whether the Patriots should explore trading their backup QB-- or even Tom Brady -- should Garoppolo have an impressive four-game run to start the season. Listen to the full interview below:
