Patriots receiver says he’s ready to step up in the event of Tom Brady’s absence
Until further notice, the New England Patriots are on the verge of transitioning from a signal-caller with 207 career NFL starts to one with none. Unless Tom Brady’s appeal successfully removes his four-game suspension, second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will be the starter to begin the season. He’s taking advantage of this offseason to prepare.
“Jimmy has grown a lot since he first stepped foot up there in Foxborough last year,’’ wide receiver Brandon LaFell said on Sirius XM, via ESPN. “He got a little experience during the later part of the season against Buffalo; he showed a little glimpse of what he can do. He’s been having a nice OTAs, a nice offseason with us.’’
Brady may be off the field physically, but it sounds like he’ll be mentoring Garoppolo, which should be evident on the field.
“I feel like studying behind Tom has been great for him,’’ LaFell said. “If we have to be without Tom for the first couple games, I’m pretty sure Tom will be in Jimmy’s ear helping him prepare each and every way he can to go out here and lead this team. I think we have a great group of guys around him that will kind of take the pressure off Jimmy so he won’t have to feel like he has to go out there and win the game himself with me, Gronk, [Julian] Edelman, Scott Chandler, we have all great guys around here — LeGarrette Blount, Aaron Dobson — a few guys who can go out and make a lot of plays for him so he doesn’t feel like he has to go out there and win the game himself. Everybody just has to up their level of play to help out.’’
Garoppolo has the luxury of big-bodied targets like Gronk (6’6’’), Chandler (6’7’’) and LaFell (6’2’’), who have a large catching radius. The plus-sized pass-catchers and Edelman are capable of elevating Garoppolo’s play and making his early-career starts successful.
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