FOXBORO -- There is still little reason to believe quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will be available to start Thursday night against the Texans due to a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder.
However, 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, sources have told the Herald. That Garoppolo took part in practice Tuesday, on a limited basis, reinforces how the Patriots have hopes of him playing.
Garoppolo is still struggling to lift his right arm, so it is unrealistic to believe he’ll be ready to perform effectively against the Texans, who are ranked third in both points and yards allowed through two weeks.
The nature of the injury suggests it would take Garoppolo several days to get his arm loose enough to put any real velocity on his passes. Considering the pain Garoppolo continues to endure, the timeline doesn’t add up for him to be any more valuable to the offense tomorrow than rookie Jacoby Brissett.
The Patriots announced Garoppolo participated on a limited basis during yesterday’s walkthrough, but he wasn’t present for the media portion of the workout at the start of practice. The limited designation can mean Garoppolo took part in one play or all but one play, so there’s a wide range. And though there could be some gamesmanship involved with the injury report, the NFL has the right to pull the practice tapes to verify the integrity of the Patriots’ injury report, so it’d be shocking to think they’d subject themselves to league-mandated discipline considering their recent history.