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New England Patriots' Week 4 QB situation as murky as ever

By The Sports Xchange
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will decide which of his quarterbacks will start against Buffalo in Week 4. Some fans are holding out hope to see wide receiver and former college quarterback Julian Edelman (pictured) get the call. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will decide which of his quarterbacks will start against Buffalo in Week 4. Some fans are holding out hope to see wide receiver and former college quarterback Julian Edelman (pictured) get the call. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - For the second straight game, the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots is TBD.

That's not to be confused with TB12, the nickname and business brand of Tom Brady, who will be serving the final week of his four-game Deflategate suspension when New England (3-0) hosts the Buffalo Bills (1-2) this Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

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While Bill Belichick's team has continued to win and amaze with their future Hall of Fame quarterback sunbathing in Italy, the quarterback position has been anything but stable without the franchise.

That remains true as both Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett remain limited this week in practice with shoulder and thumb injuries, respectively. Garoppolo missed last Thursday night's win over the Texans with an AC sprain in his throwing shoulder, while Brissett finished his first career start with what is reportedly a sprained thumb.

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"My sources tell me that Babe Parilli is gonna be the quarterback," Bills coach Rex Ryan quipped this week, referring to the 86-year-old Boston Patriots passer. "He is definitely ... he doesn't move the way he used to, and I'd be very confident. So we'll see what happens there."

Garoppolo threw the ball in practice during the short media viewing period on Wednesday but reports have indicated he's still dealing with a lot of pain in the shoulder. He spoke in rather general terms of his recovery prior to practice.

"I mean it's coming along. You know, I'm just taking it day by day right now. Trying to get to my best of ability on Sunday," Garoppolo said.

Given that it was the final game before Brady is to return from suspension, will the fill-in backup push any harder to get back into action?

"You always want to be out there. It's part of football, part of being a competitor. You want to be there guy out there and be the one running the show I guess," Garoppolo said.

Brissett, ever the rookie under the pressure of sticking to the Patriot Way with the media, was even less open to discussing his health status.

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"You know we're not talking about injuries," Brissett said, before acknowledging he felt "good" throwing the football, declining to get into any more detail with his grip. "Just something I deal with. Whatever happens just happens and whatever coach wants me to do, I'll do."

Brissett is right. Belichick will decide at some point this week which of his quarterbacks -- although some fans are holding out hope still to see wide receiver and former college quarterback Julian Edelman get the call -- will start against Buffalo. Either way it will be a young passer dealing with an injury just days or weeks after making his first career NFL start.

It sounds like a tough situation for the Patriots offense. But, it's also created uncertainty for the Bills defense.

And it continues what has been a very successful, very interesting and rather unpredictable first month of Brady-less football in New England.

By Sunday at 1 p.m. the world will know who's playing quarterback against Buffalo. But Sunday at 4 p.m. there is a chance that Belichick and the Patriots have added another week to an impressive start to 2016 with their future Hall of Fame quarterback's return on the horizon.

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SERIES HISTORY: 112th regular-season meeting. Patriots lead the all-time series 68-42-1. The battles date back to the original AFL days, but of late New England has dominated the Bills as much as any opponent in the Brady/Belichick era. The Patriots are 27-3 against Buffalo since 2001, including a 14-1 mark at Gillette Stadium. Interestingly, thought, the Bills have often put up a fight despite all the losing, with six of the last seven games in the series decided by one score. New England has swept the yearly meetings 24 times, including last year.

GAME PLAN: New England's offensive game plan against the Bills is tough to project given the fact that there is uncertainty whether Jimmy Garoppolo (shoulder) or Jacoby Brissett (thumb) will be playing quarterback. While three is some carry-over in terms of what the two players do -- both run boots and throw on the run -- things will be a lot simpler and maybe more gimmicky with Brissett potentially making his second start as a third-round rookie. Either way, New England will look to remain balanced on offense.

LeGarrette Blount leads the NFL in rushing yards and attempts through three games. The offensive line has been better in the first month giving the big back room wear down defenses and hit big runs late. Assuming the score remains close or in New England's favor, balance will again be key.

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There will also be a focus on the short, high-percentage passes and avoiding turnovers that have been a key through the first three weeks. Buffalo will likely send some bodies at the quarterback, meaning the line will have its hands full in pass protection, but also that the quarterbacks need to make their pre-snap reads and get rid of the ball quickly. Overall, expect another balanced game plan with a conservative passing attack with a few gimmick or "shot" plays mixed in. And a more traditional spread Patriots passing attack if Garoppolo is good enough to go.

Defensively, the Patriots first goal will be to shut down a Bills running game that's coming off 200-plus yards against the Cardinals. New England's run defense has been solid, save for a few hiccups with missed tackles. Jamie Collins was a beast last week and he'll be looking to run sideline-to-sideline to stop LeSean McCoy. Malcom Brown and Alan Branch have done a good job setting the tone up front at defensive tackle and will need to do so again early on. Assuming New England's front keeps McCoy under wraps, it then has to do the same with quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who's also a big part of the running game. That means a controlled pass rush on the edges with the possibility of Collins spying on Taylor.

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New England's back end will continue to work to avoid the big play, which was an issue two weeks ago against Miami but a non-factor in the most recent win over Houston. The secondary played tight coverage, tackled well and kept everything in front against the Texans and will take a similar approach against Buffalo. The feeling in New England is likely that Taylor isn't capable of consistently putting together long drives without big plays.

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