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Tom Brady Discusses Garoppolo Injury; Brissett & Edelman At QB

BOSTON (CBS) -- It's tough for Tom Brady to watch his Patriots play without him, but he's enjoying their winning ways despite facing some adversity at the quarterback position.

Joining Jim Gray for his weekly interview on Westwood One during Monday Night Football, Brady said he was impressed with Jimmy Garoppolo's performance under center, and feels bad that the quarterback went down with a shoulder injury during Sunday's win over the Miami Dolphins.

"He was really firing the ball in there and being very accurate and decisive with his throws. That was great to see," Brady told Gray, adding Garoppolo's injury was tough to watch. "He made a great play to escape the pocket and made a great throw on the run on a third-down play. The linebacker (Miami's Kiko Alonso) hit him and landed on top of him. You see that quite a bit in the NFL. It's a tough injury, especially your throwing shoulder."

Rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett replaced Garoppolo after the injury, and did enough to help New England escape with a 31-24 victory. Brady is confident that Brissett can hold down the position until his return in Week 5 if it comes to that.

"Jacoby has done a great job taking advantage of his opportunity as well," Brady said of Brissett, who completed six of his nine passes for 92 yards. "He went in there and showed a lot of poise. He has a great demeanor about him. I love working with him. He shows up to work every day working hard. He's very competitive, and I know our coaching staff will have him prepared and ready to go for Thursday night if he's called upon."

It's been reported that the team won't be adding another QB to the roster, making wide receiver Julian Edelman next in line after Brissett if Garoppolo can't go. Edelman was a quarterback in college, and is still relishing in a touchdown pass he threw in the Patriots' victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the 2014 AFC Divisional Game.

Julian Edelman
Julian Edelman throws a touchdown pass against the Baltimore Ravens. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

"He still talks about that touchdown pass he threw against Baltimore a few years ago. Maybe it would give him a little more ammunition if he did well, but if he didn't do so well... He's kind of batting 1,000 right now," Brady joked.  "He's been in that role and played the position and, God forbid anything happened to Jacoby, if he's the only guy out there at quarterback, if that's the case, then I'd expect Julian to go in there and the coaches to be comfortable with the plays that they're calling for him."

Despite all of this, the Patriots are 2-0 on the season.

"It's amazing the way our team responds to adversity and the way our coaches prepare us for all these different situations that we face. I'm just proud of the guys for how hard they're working," said Brady. "You can see it on TV and, obviously, it's really paying off. It's great to be a fan of the Patriots and it's really great to be a player on the Patriots. I definitely have gained that perspective, and hopefully we get to 3-0 on Thursday night."

Brady also denied calling into 98.5 The Sports Hub last week, which made Toucher & Rich a little upset: 

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