Morning sports update: What 2 former Patriots think of the Jimmy Garoppolo trade’s lasting impact
"I definitely think there was some regret."
The Celtics lost to the Rockets on Thursday, with James Harden dropping 45 points in a 127-113 win for Houston. The Bruins lost to the Devils, 5-2, at TD Garden.
On Sunday, the Patriots face the Jets at Gillette Stadium with a chance to clinch a playoff bye. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
What Tedy Bruschi and Damien Woody think about the Jimmy Garoppolo trade: More than a year after the Patriots made the decision to trade backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, the full consequences of the move are still largely unknown.
Garoppolo went down with a season-ending ACL tear in September, while Tom Brady has continued to start for the Patriots at age 41. Yet Brady’s continued performance at an elite level has been questioned, leaving some to speculate about whether trading Garoppolo was the right move.
Tedy Bruschi and Damien Woody recently discussed the legacy of the trade on ESPN. For Bruschi, the circumstances of the trade still stand out.
“[Belichick’s] process has always been a player gets older, I’m going to start to see the decline, and I’m going to try to reload that position with the draft and free agency prior to that player becoming a shell of his former self,” Bruschi said. “But that player was a 40-year-old Tom Brady, and he won the MVP.”
He continued: “You don’t just move on from a player who just won the MVP. It was a difficult situation.”
Woody thinks some people in the Patriots organization feel the trade was the wrong move.
“I definitely think there was some regret,” Woody said. “Any team when you talk about the Indianapolis Colts going from Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck, you want some type of successor plan. I do agree with Tedy in the simple fact that this is a unique situation.”
The unprecedented fallout from the trade — in which there was reported disagreement among the team’s hierarchy — was indicative of the move’s high stakes.
“This is kind of like the first time that I’ve seen where you dealt away a player and then you heard the rumblings of a rift between the quarterback in Tom Brady, ownership, and coach Belichick,” Woody said. “I just think that it goes to show how difficult a decision that it was for an organization to make to move on from a quarterback who a lot of people felt could really be like the Patriots’ version of Andrew Luck, taking the mantle away from Tom Brady moving forward.”
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Rob Gronkowski is ‘all in’
: Avoiding questions about his future, Rob Gronkowski kept things focused on the ongoing season during his Thursday press conference. Telling reporters that he’s “all in” on the team’s current run, Gronkowski said that he’s prepared for whatever role the Patriots need him in. [The Boston Globe]
Draft prospects to watch in New Year’s bowl games: Not surprisingly, powerhouse college football teams tend to produce a number of top draft picks. Here’s a guide to help identify some of the top NFL prospects who will be playing in upcoming bowl games. [The Ringer]
Patriots undrafted rookie cornerback J.C. Jackson among the top-rated first year corners in the league:
Denzel Ward is our highest graded rookie cornerback, but where does he rank in our Race for Rookie of the Year?https://t.co/IIp7sc2v3V
(via @PFF_Billy) pic.twitter.com/xdiyeB2W0j
— PFF (@PFF) December 28, 2018
Daily highlight: Marcus Smart sent Clint Capela in the wrong direction with a well-played fake pass.
https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1078474317568962560
