Reiss On Sports Final: 'Impressed With Garoppolo'
BOSTON (CBS) -- It was a big deal Friday when Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo threw a quintet of interceptions at practice.
Why is that such a big deal? Well, Garoppolo may be more than a backup to start the season, with Tom Brady patiently awaiting to appeal his four-game suspension stemming from the DeflateGate mess. There's a pretty good chance Garoppolo will get the start when the Patriots open their season at Gillette against the Steelers on September 10, so it's somewhat concerning to hear he closed Friday with four interceptions during a hurry-up drill (and five overall).
But don't get too concerned with Garoppolo completing five passes to the defense at this point. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss joined WBZ-TV's Sports Final on Sunday night and said, overall, Garoppolo has been pretty good in these early practices.
"I don't want to say it's not a big deal, but I'm surprised that it's such a big story," said Reiss. "I will say this, I am impressed with Jimmy Garoppolo. The command, poise and way he handles himself, [the Patriots] will be competitive if they have to turn to Garoppolo [to start the season]."
The question is, how much do teams read into these early summer numbers? Reiss called around the league, and found most teams keep passing stats during June camps for teaching purposes.
Still, he was surprised it was such a big deal over the weekend.
"It amazes me from a big picture standpoint that, at a June practice, Jimmy Garoppolo throwing five interceptions becomes a big story, both locally and nationally. We love our football," Reiss concluded.
As for Brady, his appeal of the league's four-game ban will be heard on June 23. Reiss thinks Brady's game plan is simple, and No. 12 won't accept anything other than the suspension getting completely wiped out.
"Tom will be convincing, as he often is," Reiss said of the appeal. "Roger Goodell has this four-game suspension. The theory, and I subscribe to it, is it can easily be cut to two games. That's a likely scenario when [Goodell] hears what Tom Brady has to say.
"What we're trying to figure out is if Tom Brady would accept two games or he's going for zero. My sense is it's going to have to be zero and he won't settle for two. We'll see if that sense is correct." said Reiss.
Also, see what Reiss had to say about the developing Brandon Spikes situation from over the weekend. Tune in to WBZ-TV's Sports Final and Sports Final OT every Sunday night at 11:35pm!