As if the New England Patriots weren’t behind the eight-ball enough entering the season, another curveball has been thrown in Foxboro’s direction. If you were to just check the score of last Sunday’s tilt with the Miami Dolphins, you would see that the Patriots took a 31-24 win out of their home opener. However, if you watched the game or paid attention to the news or any kind of social media, you would know that the man given the reins in Tom Brady’s absence, Jimmy Garoppolo, suffered an injury in the second quarter of the game.

During the second quarter, Garoppolo scrambled out of the pocket and completed a first down pass to Julian Edelman, but was hit after the throw by Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso. The hit was clean. It just happened to be one that hurt the young quarterback. Jacoby Brissett came in to replace Garoppolo, and really struggled to manage the offense. One can hope that Brissett will find a way to control the tempo of the offense.

Initially, the timetable for the injury was believed to be six weeks, a tough blow considering that the coaches had groomed him for the first four weeks and he was playing terrifically. However, his tests came back negative, and the timetable for the injury is now one to two weeks. Helping Garoppolo out is that the Patriots are going to play a Thursday Night game this week, which means he will have a little extra time to recover for the last game without Brady. That being said, how should we expect the Patriots to fair going into the last two weeks before Brady returns?

Garoppolo was playing exceptionally well in his first six quarters as a starter. in the first game and a half he played, he completed 42 of 60 passing attempts, with 498 passing yards and four touchdown passes. Garoppolo was displaying the skill set that many believed could allow him to take over for Brady when he finally decides to hand over the reins.

Even with Garoppolo now hurt, and possibly unable to play the next two games, the fact remains that he was a stand in. Did Garoppolo play great in his time? Absolutely. I would even go so far as to say that I am very comfortable with the future of the quarterback position for New England. However, he was just holding down the fort until Brady finished up his four-game ban.
Although it really is unfortunate that we won’t get to see more of the possible heir to the throne in Foxboro, as I really enjoyed watching Garoppolo, there is no doubt that the New England Patriots will be fine after all of this.  There are only two more games left until Brady returns. It is not inconceivable for the Patriots to go 3-1 or even 4-0 by the time Brady returns, which would mean Garoppolo and the rest of the team have successfully done the job they set out to do.