Jimmy Garoppolo has never started an NFL game. That will almost certainly change Sept. 11 when the New England Patriots open their season on Sunday Night Football at the Arizona Cardinals.
Tom Brady's decision Friday to end his legal fight of a four-game suspension for his alleged role in Deflategate means he'll miss his first regular-season games since a knee injury cost him nearly all of the 2008 season.
Barring unforeseen developments in training camp and the upcoming preseason, that almost certainly means Garoppolo, who's entering his third NFL season, will step into the breach.
Half of his 20 career completions came in a meaningless Week 17 game in 2014. His lone touchdown pass occurred earlier that season in garbage time on a night when New England was blown out 41-14.
But when it comes to preparations for temporarily supplanting perhaps the greatest quarterback in NFL history, perhaps no one is better qualified for the job than Garoppolo.
Drafted in the second round two years ago and viewed as Brady's potential successor, Garoppolo has spent the past two offseasons getting ready to guide the perennial AFC East champions through the first month of the regular season while the three-time Super Bowl MVP fought a four-game ban that was vacated before last season but reinstated this year as the case wound through federal court.
Garoppolo became the de facto face of the Patriots during the summer of 2015, patiently offering scripted but polite answers about the situation, something coach Bill Belichick had no patience for. Brady himself has often been a media recluse the past two offseasons, splitting his time between the practice field and legal hearings, deftly ducking reporters throughout the process.
Garoppolo played well as part of his big dress rehearsal in preseason last year, completing 61 of 80 passes for 554 yards, two TDs and two INTs while posting a solid 92.4 passer rating.
Of course it was all for naught. Brady's ban was ultimately shelved just before the 2015 campaign kicked off, and Garoppolo wound up throwing four passes in five relief appearances last season.
After Brady's ban was revived by the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Garoppolo again received plenty of work this spring and this time he'll have to put those reps to good use.
New England fans can take solace in this much: It could have been worse.
Yes, Week 1 could be rough. But even if Brady was in the lineup against the NFC West champion Cardinals (and former Pats pass rusher Chandler Jones), chances are New England would have been listed as a slight underdog for this game.
But New England will play its next three games at home, where the Pats are 26-2 since 2013. Their opponents will be the Miami Dolphins, who are breaking in a new coach and last won in Foxborough in 2008 (when, incidentally, Brady was injured); the Houston Texans, who have a new quarterback, must travel for this Thursday night game on Sept. 22 and are 0-3 at Gillette Stadium; and the Buffalo Bills, who are 3-28 against Belichick and Co. dating back to 2000.
Garoppolo may be unproven, but he won't be cowed by the circumstances. He just completed his third offseason under the tutelage of Belichick, Brady and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He'll be playing behind what should be a healthy offensive line and should have TE Rob Gronkowski and WRs Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola at full strength along with newly acquired weapons like TE Martellus Bennett and WR Chris Hogan.
And though the Patriots, who typically carry just two quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, may have to bring in a hired gun as the backup if rookie Jacoby Brissett isn't up to the task, Garoppolo should feel relatively secure given he won his current role outright as a rookie.
Really, all that's left for Garoppolo is to adhere to the Patriots mantra and "do your job."
***
Follow Nate Davis on Twitter @ByNateDavis
