The Patriots have already gotten to Jimmy Garoppolo.
The second-round pick, the latest ostensible heir to Tom Brady, said Tuesday he was trying not to think about replacing a legend.
“I haven’t thought about it too much, to be honest,” Garoppolo said, via Tom Curran of CSNNE.com. “My main thing is, I’m a rookie. I haven’t earned any stripes. I haven’t done anything on the field. We had our first practice yesterday just the rookies. I still have a long way to go with that just to begin with.”
Garoppolo’s in a funny spot. Had he been drafted elsewhere — say, Houston — he’d be competing for a starting job right now.
Instead, he knows he’ll sit until there’s a calamity, the same way others before him have.
Garoppolo’s talented enough to deserve a chance. But he’s also smart enough to know at the moment not to talk about it.