Morning sports update: Bill Belichick talked about the decision to trade Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017
"He came from a situation where we thought he’d need some development, and I think he did."
On Monday, the Revolution lost to the Philadelphia Union, 2-1. New England faces Nashville on Friday at 8:30 p.m.
Tonight, Game 1 of the World Series between the Dodgers and Rays gets underway at 8:09 p.m.
Bill Belichick on Jimmy Garoppolo: With the Patriots set to play the 49ers on Sunday at 4:25 p.m., it’s been another opportunity to revisit an impactful quarterback roster decision.
The Patriots traded Jimmy Garoppolo — a New England second-round pick in 2014 — to the 49ers in 2017 for another second-round pick. It was a bittersweet moment for Bill Belichick, who had drafted Garoppolo and watched him develop as the Patriots’ backup behind Tom Brady.
“He came from a situation where we thought he’d need some development, and I think he did,” Belichick told 49ers reporters on Monday. “But he worked very hard to improve, particularly playing under center, dropping back under center, his mechanics, and turning his back on a defense. Things like that you don’t do all the time when you’re in shotgun all the time, like he was in college. Reading coverages and seeing things at this level that are a lot different from college.”
In his third season, Garoppolo played two games during Brady’s “Deflategate” suspension in 2016, leading New England to wins both times (leaving the second game due to injury).
“He handled that well,” Belichick said of Garoppolo filling in for Brady. “He showed a lot of toughness and leadership in the opportunities he got to play for us or practice. When Tom wasn’t able to practice sometimes during the week, he’d step in there and did things at a very high level.”
But New England — for variously reported reasons — couldn’t keep both Brady and Garoppolo. In the end, Belichick sent him to a favorable situation with the 49ers and offensively-minded head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“Everybody here had a lot of confidence in him,” Belichick explained. “It’s one of those situations where you’re just not able to keep all the players based on how the system is set up. It’s understandable.”
Looking at the quarterback’s situation now, Belichick is proud of Garoppolo.
“I’m glad that it’s worked out for him in San Francisco,” said Belichick, even jokingly adding that, “I hope it doesn’t work out on Sunday. But otherwise, I’m happy he’s had an opportunity to play for a great coach and a great organization and play on a great team.
“He deserves that,” Belichick continued. “He’s certainly worked hard and earned it. I’m happy for him and his family.”
Trivia: The UEFA Champions League returns today, with a full slate of games. Real Madrid have a chance to extend the club’s all-time lead in trophies in the prestigious competition (currently on 13). What club currently ranks second?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: They last won in 2007, defeating Liverpool in the final.
More from Boston.com:
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- Mike Vrabel appeared to take an intentional penalty to help Titans’ comeback win
- Revolution played at home again, and lost again, this time to Philadelphia
- Sports Q: Who is your all-time favorite play-by-play voice?
- Cam Newton discussed ‘weird’ two weeks after positive COVID-19 test, took responsibility for loss against Broncos
- 5 takeaways from the Patriots’ question-prompting loss to the Broncos
- Not enough ‘quality skill players,’ and other thoughts on the Patriots’ 18-12 loss to the Broncos
With the Nov. 3 trade deadline approaching, the Patriots might be able to add another receiver
: New England might also be able to get Browns tight end David Njoku, who reportedly still wants to be traded from Cleveland.
From @gmfb: #Bengals WR John Ross approached the team about a trade recently. The speedster, in the last year of his rookie deal, hasn’t been playing much of late and wants a fresh start if that’s going to continue being the case. pic.twitter.com/0LbfY9ODb4
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) October 20, 2020
The Falcons tweeted this when the Cardinals were up 28-3 against the Cowboys:
No need to @ us. We already know… 🙄
— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) October 20, 2020
On this day: In 1996, Bruce Arena coached D.C. United to the first ever MLS Cup. The game, which United rallied to win 3-2 over the Los Angeles Galaxy, was played at rainy Foxboro Stadium.
Daily highlight: Despite the loss, 21-year-old Revolution winger Tajon Buchanan scored what he called “definitely” the best goal of his career so far.
PUT YOUR LACES THROUGH IT 👟🚀 pic.twitter.com/tYliA2PzBc
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) October 20, 2020
Trivia answer: A.C. Milan
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