With Tom Brady watching from the sidelines last night, backup quarterback Ryan Mallett was presented with a golden opportunity, to prove he’s capable of being a starter in the NFL.
However, it was rookie Jimmy Garoppolo who seized the moment, outshining Mallett in his professional debut.
After Mallett struggled to get anything going in the first half, Garoppolo took over in the third quarter, and wasted no time winning over Patriots fans.
The second round pick out of Eastern Illinois finished the night completing nine of 13 passes for 157 yards, leading the Patriots offense to their only score of the game with a perfectly-placed ball to Brian Tyms for his first career touchdown pass.
The rookie delivering a solid debut, in his first taste of NFL action.
“It was definitely fast, faster than college that’s for sure so uh…you know it’s something that you just have to adapt to though and uh, you know you have to adapt quickly in this environment and you know we were doing a good job of that I think,” Garoppolo said.
Garoppolo had struggled for most of training camp leading up to Thursday’s game against the Redskins, making his impressive debut all the more surprising.