The New England Patriots have appeared to make a decision about the player that will start at quarterback tonight against the Houston Texans and, no, it’s not WR Julian Edelman.
I'm being told Jacoby Brissett will start at QB for #Patriots tonight. Jimmy Garoppolo will be active, but dress as his backup, per source.
— Courtney Fallon (@CourtneyFallon_) September 22, 2016
It appears like rookie QB Jacoby Brissett will be starting and QB Jimmy Garoppolo will serve as the back-up. Hopefully Garoppolo will not need to play, but this also frees up Edelman to be Brissett’s top target at receiver.
For those wondering why or how Garoppolo will be able to serve as back-up, but not be healthy enough to start, think of it like a math equation (bear with me).
Say Tom Brady is a 100 on a scale of 1-100 with regards to quarterback ability. Let’s also say that a healthy Garoppolo is an 80/100, Brissett is a 50/100, Edelman is a 30/100, and a random veteran quarterback off the street is a 25/100.
Garoppolo’s injury might make him 50% of the player he is when fully healthy, so his 80/100 score drops him to 40/100. Brissett is a better option at 50/100, but Garoppolo is still a better option than Edelman or a random signing off the street.
Hopefully Garoppolo will be closer to full strength in week 4 so he can face the Bills. Until then, it looks like Brissett is the starting quarterback.
12:10pm UPDATE:
At this time, the Patriots are not expected to have QB Jimmy Garoppolo in uniform for tonight's game, per source.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) September 22, 2016
WHO KNOWS ANYMORE?!!?