With Tom Brady suspended for the first four games of the season, the Patriots will turn to the inexperienced backup Jimmy Garoppolo. Fortunately for New England, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels says Garoppolo isn’t as inexperienced as he seems.
McDaniels says that as Garoppolo heads into his third season since the Patriots chose him in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft, the team is confident that Garoppolo has learned a lot through working on the practice field and the meeting room.
“He’s worked extremely hard,” McDaniels said. “He’s had a lot of opportunities in his first two-plus years here, in practice and in spring football. This will be his third opportunity at training camp. He’s got a great work ethic, a great approach, he tries to get better and improve every day, and he’s made progress. We’re a long way from where we want to be in terms of the finished product with him and a lot of guys on our team. There’s nobody that’s as good as we can make them. We’re excited to work with all those guys and try to improve every way we can.”
Garoppolo has thrown just 31 regular-season passes in his NFL career, most of them in a meaningless Week 17 loss to the Bills in 2014. He hasn’t shown much so far — except in the Patriots’ facility, where McDaniels likes what he sees.