FOXBORO, Mass. — Rex Ryan has crossed one name off the Week 4 list of potential New England Patriots starting quarterbacks. He knows it won’t be Tom Brady.
Brady, of course, has one week left on his four-game Deflategate suspension, so Ryan’s Buffalo Bills will miss him in one of their two matchups with the Patriots this season. It’s currently up in the air whether Jimmy Garoppolo (shoulder) or Jacoby Brissett (thumb) will be ready to start this week with their respective injuries, since they both were limited in practice Wednesday. If they can’t go, the Patriots could call on wide receiver Julian Edelman, who played QB in college, to be their starter.
Ryan mentioned Brady’s name Wednesday when asked about the Bill Belichick impression he performed at a news conference.
“I don’t know, man. It’s more of a — this is still a game, really a billion-dollar industry and things, but it’s still a game, and you have to be true to yourself,” the Bills coach said during a testy conference call with the New England media. “I’m true to myself. To me, it’s a thing where I enjoy Belichick’s press conference because he’s true to himself, and he does a great job. It’s pretty funny to me, because you guys can never get anything out of him, and I think it’s great. It’s kind of funny that way.
“I pulled it knowing that every question is going to be about who’s the quarterback and all of that. The one thing I do know for sure is Tom Brady is not the quarterback, and I feel good about that.”
Patriots fans don’t, of course, but they do feel good about their team’s 3-0 start. The pressure might be even higher than usual on Ryan to get a win this week, since he can’t blame a loss on Brady’s greatness. It’s mano a mano between Ryan and Belichick.
Thumbnail photo via Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports Images
