The interesting summer of analyzing Bill Belichick's dispersal of reps at the quarterback position will apparently continue in Thursday night's preseason finale in New York against the Giants.
According CSNNE.com, among others, Tom Brady will get the starting nod in the fourth preseason game to be followed by Jacoby Brissett, while Jimmy Garoppolo is not expected to play.
If that is indeed the case, Garoppolo will next step on the field Sept. 11 in the opener at Arizona while Brady will see his final work in New York before being dispatched for his four-game suspension to open the season.
Belichick was asked about how he'd divvy up the QB reps in the finale during a press conference earlier in the week.
"There are a lot of things that would be beneficial in this game," Belichick said. "In the end we just have to look at the overall opportunity that we have with our team, with various units, with individual players and try to do what we feel like is best. Are there other things that we'd like to do or are there different ways that we could look at it? I mean, there are. We'll look at those and in the end try to make the decision we feel like is best for our team, which includes the units, includes the individuals, includes where we are. But that's what we'll do. There are benefits to a lot, I'm sure you could bring up a lot of 'If we did this, if we did that,' those would all be good, and they would be, and we do that in the staff meeting. 'We'd like to do this, we'd like to do that,' OK, but what's most important? What is at the top of the list? Or, how can we maybe do two or three things if we do take a certain approach? So, that's what we try to figure out, so we'll see."
He noted that going from the third preseason game to the opener without seeing playing time for certain players, including Garoppolo, could be a part of the process determining playing time in the finale.
"So we're talking about 16 days [from the Carolina game to the regular season opener], so that's a factor," Belichick said. "From Friday [August 26] to the following Sunday [September 11], it's 16 days. We have to take that into consideration, too. Again, whether that overrides something or it doesn't, we'll just have to see, but yeah, it's definitely a consideration."
