Sports Final: 'Significant' Improvement By Jimmy Garoppolo Against Bears
BOSTON (CBS) -- With Jimmy Garoppolo slated to start the first four games of the regular season, it's important for the third-year QB to show a level of improvement throughout the preseason.
That improvement was evident in preseason game No. 2 Thursday night against the Bears, as the New England backup completed 16 of his 21 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. His scoring pass capped off a surgically executed two-minute drill at the end of the first half, alleviating many concerns about Garoppolo after a so-so performance in his first preseason game against the Saints.
ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss joined WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night to break down Garoppolo's performance, saying the improvement he displayed was "significant."
"He looked a lot more comfortable," said Reiss. "My first instinct after the game, what I wrote, was if Jimmy Garoppolo plays like this the Patriots will be just fine. That was a solid performance."
Garoppolo did have his mistakes, and Reiss pointed out two throws in particular kept his from "an outstanding performance." He threw behind receiver Aaron Dobson on third down on New England's first drive of the game, forcing the team to punt the ball away, and his final throw of the night left something to be desired -- a bad pass over the middle to start the third quarter that could have been intercepted.
"I thought, overall, to have just five incompletions he made good decisions and looked comfortable in the pocket," said Reiss. "[It was] a very promising performance."
Reiss also touched on the play of tight end A.J. Derby, rookie corner Cyrus Jones and running back LeGarrette Blount. Catch all of his thoughts on their performances against the Bears in the video above.
The Patriots were hit with a plethora of injury updates on Sunday, highlighted by the news that running back Dion Lewis is going back under the knife and expected to miss 8-10 weeks. Reiss doesn't sound very concerned about the procedure though, and said it's likely that the Patriots will have Lewis back for the second half of the season.
"The hope was he would be ready for the regular season opener as recently as a week ago. His rehab had been going well, but there was some type of setback where they want to go in and clean up around the knee. It's not the ACL, so it's not like the repair itself was compromised," said Reiss. "If there was a Super Bowl tomorrow, I think he would play. But we haven't even started the season yet and it's a long one, he's had an injury history. [The Patriots are thinking], 'Let's go in, clean it up and start over, in a sense. If we can get him 100 percent in say mid-November, for the back half of the year and the playoffs.'"
Reiss also touched on the chances of Sebastian Vollmer landing on the IR and Marcus Cannon's broken hand, two injuries that will be a massive test for the team's depth along the offense line. Check that out in the video below, and tune in to Sports Final every Sunday night at 11:35 p.m. on WBZ-TV.
