So the New England Patriots definitely have to sign another quarterback now, right?
Rookie quarterback Jacoby Brissett suffered a torn right thumb ligament during Thursday night’s win over the Houston Texans, a source told WEEI’s Mike Petraglia on Friday. The injury to Brissett’s throwing hand isn’t “deemed serious,” a source told NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, and it will be monitored.
This now leaves the Patriots with zero healthy quarterbacks, however, since Jimmy Garoppolo is dealing with a Grade 2 AC joint sprain in his throwing shoulder, and Tom Brady has one week left on his four-game Deflategate suspension. Garoppolo’s injury was suffered in Week 2, and recovery from that type of injury typically takes two to four weeks.
The Patriots now go into a 10-day break with injury question marks with both active quarterbacks. They essentially have two options:
— Sign a free-agent quarterback to start if Garoppolo and Brissett aren’t ready to go next Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
— Wait it out, and if Garoppolo and Brissett can’t go, start Julian Edelman or another skill-position player at quarterback.
Option 1 seems the most likely, but we also thought the Patriots would sign a quarterback leading into Week 3, when they instead rolled with Brissett as the starter and Edelman as the backup.
The team on Tuesday worked out free agent T.J. Yates, who previously ran an offense similar to the Patriots’ with the Houston Texans and seems like the most likely candidate to join New England’s roster. The team also hosted free-agent QB Sean Renfree on a visit.
The Patriots must open two roster spots to make room for Brady and Rob Ninkovich prior to Week 5, so they might as well sign a quarterback just in case, since the player they would release to do so won’t be long for the team regardless.
It’s tough to predict what Bill Belichick ever will do, however. So we’ll just have to throw our hands in the air until the coach decides how to move forward.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
