Belichick: Brissett Could Start In Preseason Finale
BOSTON (CBS) -- Speaking at length about the Patriots quarterback situation in a Saturday conference call, head coach Bill Belichick would not rule out that Tom Brady would get playing time in the team's preseason finale against the New York Giants Thursday night at MetLife Stadium.
He also wouldn't rule out that Jacoby Brissett, not Jimmy Garoppolo, would get the start.
"I think that's a good question, it's a fair question, it's one that we really have to give some good consideration to," Belichick said when asked if he would consider giving Brissett the nod. But he stressed the need to get each quarterback ready, mainly Garoppolo for Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals.
He acknowledged that, while Brady, Garoppolo, and Brissett could all use as many reps as possible before the season starts, there's only so many to go around.
"We want to get Jimmy [Garoppolo] ready for the Arizona game. Tom [Brady] isn't going to be playing for a while so it's kind of his last chance to play until he comes back after a few weeks. Jacoby [Brissett] certainly could use all the playing time that he can get," said Belichick. "I think that whichever players we play will benefit from it and it will be valuable to them. We could play all three quarterbacks a lot next week and they'd all benefit from that and it would all be good, but we can't."
The fourth preseason game is often a time for most, if not all, projected starters to sit while the rest of the roster battles for the final spots on the team. But if Belichick's comments - and the way he handled the quarterbacks Friday night against Carolina - are any indication, there's a chance Brady will come in and get some snaps in the middle of the first half without taking the start away from Garoppolo. However, Brissett may have earned himself a start in the preseason finale with his performance Friday night: 9-for-9 passing with 85 yards and a touchdown.
Belichick stressed the need for the quarterbacks to get more playing time in situations that they need to prepare for, indicating that Garoppolo will get one more start before starting the first four games of the regular season for the Patriots. But at this point, however Belichick deploys the quarterbacks on Thursday is anyone's guess.
