It appears at least one New England Patriots played in 2016 felt like Jimmy Garoppolo left the team high and dry during Week 4 of the season.
With Tom Brady out four games to start that season, Jimmy Garoppolo took over under center for the Patriots for a game and change, spraining an AC joint during the Week 2 meeting against the Miami Dolphins. Jacoby Brissett took over the rest of that game and in Week 3 against the Houston Texans, but Garoppolo was expected to possibly be back for Week 4.
His status hung in the air for days, and in the eyes of Bennett, a little too long.
“Bro, we lost two games (that season),” Bennett said on the Double Coverage podcast with Devin and Jason McCourty, via NBC Sports Boston. “One of them was because Jimmy Garoppolo was being a (expletive). He decided not to play right before the game. Jacoby came out and played with a (expletive) up thumb and played his heart out, but Jimmy was just being a (expletive) about it all.
“That’s why he … you can’t win with a (expletive) for a quarterback, first of all. That was the whole thing with him: He didn’t want to come out and do anything because his agent was trying to protect his body or some (expletive) like that. Which, I can’t fault him for that. But like, you should have made that decision on Thursday. Now it’s Sunday.”
Indeed, the Patriots lost 16-0 that week to the Buffalo Bills, and by the next week Brady was back. New England won the Super Bowl that season and Garoppolo was traded a year later, but not without first drawing the ire of Bennett.
