Jimmy Garoppolo’s impending return to Gillette Stadium brought good memories to the protection of the New England Patriots, Devin McCourty.
In statements to reporters Wednesday in a video conference, McCourty recalled garoppolo’s first start, now the initial quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, made in the Patriots uniform.
The date was September 11, 2016. Tom Brady fulfilling his four-game suspension with Deflategate, Garoppolo knew that on the educational field he would enter the season as QB1 in New England.
His first opponent: the Arizona Cardinals, who arrived at the NFC championship game last season. Oddsmakers installed the Cardinals as nine-point home favorites on a Patriots team that had not played a game against Tom Brady since 2008.
Garoppolo had been with the Patriots since he was selected in the circular at the time in 2014, but only saw the action in the trash in his first two seasons in the nfl.
However, despite their inexperience, Patriots players were confident in their young QB.
“I’m still entering the first weekend and we’ve all been asked questions like, “How nervous are you by this position (quarterback)?McCourty remembers. And our whole team said we weren’t nervous at all, because we believed in Jimmy and we knew he’d be in a position to go. “
They’re right.
Garoppolo finished four of five passes for 75 yards in the Patriots’ first practice, crowning him with a 37-yard landing pass to Chris Hogan, then changed two-thirds of attempts, adding a 32-yard strike to Danny Amendola on the court. 3rd and 15th: to prepare a box basket with less than four minutes to play.
Garoppolo finished game 24 out of 33 (72. 7%) for 264 yards and a no-steal score, and the Patriots’ underdogs won 26-24 after Cardinals kicker Chandler Catanzaro missed the left yards in the final seconds.
“I think one of the most important things I’ve noticed here was his balance,” McCourty said. “You can tell. You have a young boy and you have to go in and update Tom Brady, who (in a) four-game suspension. (Garoppolo) enters, we’re in Arizona, week 1, and it doesn’t blink. It’s there, it’s playing, and I think when you look at it it doesn’t change. “
Garoppolo then threw three touchdowns in the first half the following week before suffering a shoulder injury that ended his tenure as a Patriots starter. He supported Brady for the remainder of the 2016 season and the first part of 2017 before head coach Bill Belichick reluctantly changed him. San Francisco.
Although he has noticed significant action in just two games in his three-and-a-half seasons in New England, Garoppolo has left a lasting impression on his Patriots teammates.
“What many of us call him a player,” McCourty said. “From the first time he threw shots in the preseason, he made plays, which remains alive in his pocket, whether it’s a smart pitch. Let’s just say he was a guy who made big plays and it was wonderful to see, from the older boy, a young boy jumping through the level in 2016 when he had to start the first two games and how he was in a position, how well prepared he was.
McCourty asked if the Patriots’ familiarity with Garoppolo would give them defensive merit when the Niners make a stopover at Gillette on Sunday.
“I think the most important thing is that we know Jimmy as a person,” said the security veteran. “Jimmy will come here in a position to pass as a competitor . . . We all look forward to Jimmy’s peak productivity to come on Sunday. We know he can play soccer at the highest level. We have noticed his adulthood over the years.
“I’m sure he’ll come here on Sunday in a position to face a team that I’d say he knows pretty well, just because of his time in meetings and in the educational field, in terms of the plan and everything else. “. “