With a federal appeals court reinstating Tom Brady’s suspension, who will start in his place at quarterback?
The Deflategate scandal may have finally reached its final turn. On Monday, a federal appeals court ruled that New England Patriots Tom Brady’s four-game suspension was to be reinstated, after a lower court ruled the opposite way.
That means that Brady will now miss the first four games of his team’s season, which could be monumental toward playoff seeding at the end of the year. Brady will miss games against the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
With Brady out until Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns, that means that Jimmy Garoppolo will step in and face the four great defenses in the first four weeks of the season. The Cardinals have a tremendous secondary and a revamped front seven, while the Dolphins, Bills and Texans all have a front seven that can get after the quarterback in a hurry.
The Patriots have a lot of belief in Garoppolo and see him as their apparent to Brady. If he’s going to be the guy to take over the reigns, then this is his chance to show what he can do.
Everyone was expecting to see him last year when they thought Brady was going to be suspended. Garoppolo has the size, strength and accuracy that coaches love. In his limited play, mostly in the preseason, Garoppolo has shown flashes of being a good quarterback in this league.
With plenty of seasoning now while learning on the bench and a chance to watch Brady win a Super Bowl a couple of seasons ago, it could be the time for Garoppolo to give the Patriots a glimpse of life after Brady.
Still, he doesn’t have an easy four games ahead of him.
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