Reiss On Sports Final: Patriots Confident In Jimmy Garoppolo
BOSTON (CBS) -- The saga known as DeflateGate came to an abrupt end on Friday, with Tom Brady ending his appeal of his four-game suspension.
It was a bit shocking to see Brady waived the white flag on his Facebook page, as the battle appeared destined for the Supreme Court. But ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss wasn't very surprised with the decision, especially after Brady's appeal was denied by the 2nd Circuit Court last Wednesday.
"When the court denied his appeal with just the once sentence, someone close to Brady said to me that as much as that was expected, it was demoralizing. That was the first time that I had heard anyone close to Brady speak in those words," Reiss said Sunday night on WBZ-TV's Sports Final. "We thought he was going to take it to the limit. The NFLPA will take it to the limit, but this is where Tom Brady checks out."
So now the Patriots will be without their star quarterback for the first four games of the 2016 season, with Jimmy Garoppolo likely under center for New England's opener in Arizona and home games against the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. Reiss said the organization is confident in the 2014 second-round pick, but it's hard to predict what will happen when Garoppolo finally takes some meaningful snaps.
"They are confident in him, but let's see what happens when the bright lights go on," said Reiss. "I go back to 2008 when Matt Cassel was named the starter when Brady went down 15 plays into the season. They didn't know what they had; they had an idea, but until you do it you never know. There are positive traits [with Garoppolo] and they like where he is entering his third year, but let's see what happens when he's really out there in the regular season."
Reiss doesn't think the Patriots will bring in a fourth quarterback to slide behind Brady, Garoppolo and rookie Jacoby Brissett on the depth chart, and believes Brady will still get plenty of snaps when training camp gets underway in two weeks.
"Bill Belichick says training camp and the preseason is the foundation for the entire season. Brady still needs his work and you don't want throwing to third or fourth string guys he won't see during the year. I think they'll split the reps," said Reiss.
Watch the full segment in the video above, and tune in to Sports Final every Sunday at 11:35pm on WBZ-TV!