Sunday’s game started off well for the Patriots, with Jimmy Garoppolo and the offense off to the races after putting up a 21-0 lead over the Dolphins when it seemed the route was on.
But then, disaster struck and will likely affect the next two weeks for the Patriots, who may be feeling pretty smart for drafting rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett during this year’s NFL Draft.
It happened with just under 5-minutes to go in the game, when Garoppolo took a vicious shot that ended his afternoon. After being flushed out of the pocket, Garoppolo held onto the ball until the last possible moment and fired a completion to Malcolm Mitchell on a 3rd-and-9. But on the play, he was hit by the Dolphins Kiko Alonso, who put his full weight onto Garoppolo and drove the quarterback’s throwing shoulder into the ground.
Garoppolo initially got up and walked back to the huddle, and then took a knee as trainers came out to the field, with LeGarrette Blount and Matthew Slater both immediately also coming to Garoppolo’s side. As trainers worked on him Garoppolo winced in pain, before gingerly getting up and walking off the field to the locker room.
MassLive’s Kevin Duffy reported late in the game that X-Rays on Garoppolo came back negative, but that the quarterback was at the hospital and was going to remain there while under further evaluation.
Told that X-Rays came back negative for Jimmy Garoppolo. No broken bones.
— Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy) September 18, 2016
Garoppolo is currently at the hospital and is under further evaluation.
— Kevin Duffy (@KevinRDuffy) September 18, 2016
Brissett came in and finished the game but didn’t get much action throwing the football, attempting just nine passes with six completions as the game shifted into the hands of LeGarrette Blount, who finished the game with 29 carries for 123 yards and a touchdown.
Before his injury, Garoppolo had been off to a pretty incredible start, completing 18-of-27 for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns. Now his status remains in question, which will likely see Brissett get the nod this week if Garoppolo isn’t ready to go when the Patriots face the Texans Thursday night at Gillette Stadium.
UPDATE: It sounds like Garoppolo avoided a fracture but will still miss this week’s game and possibly longer due to his injury.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
