Latest On Jimmy Garoppolo

The Patriots got some good news today with regards to Jimmy Garoppolo‘s injury. It looks like quarterback won’t start on Thursday night against the Texans, but there is hope he’ll back by Week 4, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Ideally, the Pats would like to have Garoppolo in uniform against Houston, but they might not have to delve into the third-string realm for two straight weeks before Tom Brady‘s return. And, although it may be a longshot, the Patriots have not given up hope yet that Garoppolo can play on Thursday, a team source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Garoppolo suffered a sprained AC joint in his throwing shoulder on Sunday in the team’s 31-24 win over Miami. After Garoppolo was taken out by Kiko Alonso‘s hit, Jacoby Brissett was put in the game for the first time in his NFL career. The third-round rookie got the job done, completing 6-of-9 passes as he guided New England the rest of the way. Brissett will be asked to provide that same poise from wire-to-wire on Thursday night, but the Pats likely won’t have to depend on him for two games in a row.

Now, we’ll wait and see what the Pats do about their backup quarterback situation for their upcoming game. Brissett stands as the team’s only healthy QB on the active roster and there are no signal callers currently on the practice squad. The Pats may turn to someone they have a recent history with, like Ryan Lindley or Matt Flynn.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.