With less than 30 hours to go before kickoff, we still do not know who will start under center for the New England Patriots against the Houston Texans.
Asked when he planned on announcing his starting signal-caller for Thursday night’s game, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said it might not be until shortly before game time.
“It might be as early as (Wednesday) afternoon, it might be as late as when we turn in the inactives (Thursday) night,” Belichick said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, as transcribed by ESPN.com. “We’ll just have to see how it all comes together. Any time you have a short week like this, you always have a few players that are banged up and working their way back. Where exactly they’ll be on game time Thursday night, a lot of times you don’t know until Thursday night.”
Belichick said earlier this week he would be comfortable with waiting until pregame to announce his starting quarterback. Barring a last-minute development, it will be either Jimmy Garoppolo, who is recovering from a shoulder injury suffered during Sunday’s win over the Miami Dolphins, or rookie Jacoby Brissett.
The Patriots are “putting pressure on Garoppolo to be ready as quickly as possible, even reminding him Tom Brady played through a similar injury on multiple occasions throughout his career,” the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe reported Tuesday night, citing sources.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
