No Brady, no Garoppolo, and now no Brissett? Patriots rookie reportedly injured thumb

For over 20 years, the New England Patriots have had essentially two starting quarterbacks: Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady, a remarkable run, particularly in a league where great QBs seem harder and harder to find.

But this season, the football gods are exacting some revenge: Brady, serving a four-game suspension, is away from the team until Oct. 3; third-year man Jimmy Garoppolo was fantastic for the first five-plus quarters of the season, until he was driven to the ground by Miami’s Kiko Alonso and suffered a sprained AC joint.

So that left New England with one healthy quarterback: rookie Jacoby Brissett. Brissett, a third-round pick, started the Patriots’ Thursday night game against Houston, and while he didn’t light it up, he was steady, completing 10-of-19 passes, running the ball in himself for one touchdown, and perhaps most importantly, not turning the ball over.

He also, reportedly, suffered a torn ligament in the thumb of his throwing hand in the game and may not be available when New England hosts Buffalo in Week 4. Although WEEI.com reported that Brissett had a torn ligament in the thumb, both ESPN and NFL Network are calling it a sprain.

But still, wow.

It’s rare for the Patriots to even carry three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, so they were fortunate to have Brissett available for Thursday night, a player who’s been with them for several months.

But now, it seems, they have a couple of options: hope that Garoppolo can feel well enough to play in that Oct. 2 game against the Bills, which would be two full weeks after he suffered his injury, or bring in a quarterback off the street and get him as ready as possible.

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Yes, receiver Julian Edelman was the emergency quarterback against the Texans, but as great of a storyline as it is to think the former college quarterback (Kent State) would be able to step into the starting role, even for one game, that seems unlikely and more than a little far-fetched.

Unless Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are going to dust off the wishbone or wing-T pages of the playbook…

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