As Week 4 rolls in, fans of the New England Patriots are hoping that Jimmy Garoppolo will be able to return to continue the team's winning streak. However, given the quarterback's current condition, it seems the team has no other option but to start with Jacoby Brissett.
According to insiders, Garoppolo is still nursing the injury he suffered at Week 2 during the Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins. Even though he was spotted at practice earlier this week, he is still reportedly in pain and has limited mobility in his throwing shoulder.
Because of this, the New England franchise might take on the Buffalo Bills next week without Garoppolo in the active roster. Playing in his place will most likely be Brissett, the team's current No. 2 quarterback.
Although Brissett was able to successfully lead the Patriots to their third consecutive victory in Week 3 against the Houston Texans, New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels noted that there is still a level of uncertainty in playing the backup quarterback.
"I think there's always an element of the unknown when you're dealing with a player or something you haven't seen or scouted as much," he said. "I don't know if there's an advantage there, it's just that you don't have as much information on a player or on some scheme that they may use, which then forces you to figure some things out as the game goes along and do some quick self-scouting as you move through the first quarter, the first half, whatever it is, just to make sure that if it is something new you haven't seen before, if it is a player that you haven't played against and don't have a lot of volume of tape on, that you have an opportunity to evaluate quickly what is going on."
Hopefully though, Brissett will be skilled enough to continue the Patriots' winning streak even for just one more game. After Week 4, the Patriots' current situation with their quarterback bench will be much easier since that's the time when Tom Brady will return from his four-game suspension.
