Jones: What To Expect From The Patriots During Tom Brady's Suspension
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Patriots will be without their Hall-of-Fame quarterback for the first four weeks of the season, but they're far from a one-man team. So what should fans expect from the team playing without Tom Brady from weeks one through four?
Adam Jones and Joe Murray, filling in for Rich Keefe, spent much of Wednesday night's program discussing the state of the Patriots and how they may perform without Brady against Arizona, Miami, Houston, and Buffalo. First, they wondered if the defense can carry them if the offense falters with Jimmy Garoppolo under center.
"The defense has improved markedly over the last couple of years," said Jones. "But are they good enough now - not just to hold their own, not just to keep scoring down enough so Brady can win them games - are they good enough to carry the team in the first month of the year?
"I think the Patriots will fare fine in the first month. But, Garoppolo has the Cardinals - good defense - and a couple of other good defenses to deal with. ... Is the defense good enough to carry Garoppolo and that offense for the first month?"
Later in the show, CSNNE's Phil Perry called in to talk about how the team can succeed without Brady. He stressed the importance of Garoppolo managing games well and not hurting the team.
"If [Garoppolo] is throwing the game away, if he's turning the ball over, I don't know if there's a defense in the league that's really capable of [overcoming that]," said Perry. "So he has to be that guy that doesn't lose them games. They talk about this all the time at Gillette: 'They have to learn first how not to lose before you can win.' And if Garoppolo plays losing football, it doesn't really matter what the defense does."
Finally, Yahoo! Sports NFL writer Eric Edholm called in with a national perspective on what to expect from the Patriots in the first month of the season.
"There's so much around [Garoppolo]," said Edholm. "I absolutely think [the Patriots] are in good shape, and 2-2 wouldn't be a disaster either."
