The New England Patriots won the Super Bowl last year and the expectations are - once again - championship or bust. While they are the unquestioned favorites to repeat, we know head coach Bill Belichick demands that his players master the details of the game in training camp. With New England's preseason opener looming on Thursday, here are all the latest news & rumors you need to know:
Former teammate says Tom Brady isn't retiring anytime soon
Tom Brady's future is always a question that arises during training camp. How much longer will the 40-year-old play? Former Patriots star Willie McGinest said that Brady isn't going to be retiring anytime soon.
“I see a lot of motivation now because people keep throwing that number around [40] and all the players I’ve talked to, or people who really understand the game of football, we don’t really measure the games by numbers,” McGinest said. “It’s more about production, what you’re doing on the field. It’s easy to talk about his age, but if you look at a player who’s involved, who keeps getting better who’s setting records in the Super Bowl, the biggest game of his life, and people are comparing him to nobody now because he’s accomplished so much.”
Brady has previously expressed interest in playing until his mid-40's, saying he is going to play "until I suck." That was certainly not the case last year as he was a MVP contender and led the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.
He passed for 3,554 yards with 28 touchdowns and two interceptions last year.
Patriots may cut Jacoby Brissett
While Jimmy Garoppolo is firmly entrenched as Brady's backup, the other quarterback on the roster may not be so lucky. Jacoby Brissett played a valuable role for the Patriots last year, starting two games during Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension. However, he has been largely uninspiring in camp and hasn't shown any of the progression New England was hoping to see from him this offseason, causing him to be on the roster bubble.
“It’s a work in progress,” Belichick told NESN.com about Belichick. “We’ll see. We’re a little over a week into training camp — 10, 11 practices — so we’ve got a long way to go. We’ll see.”
Brissett was viewed as insurance policy and long-term backup for Garoppolo whenever Brady retires, but if Brady isn't close to that point, they could afford to get rid of him - especially if he isn't performing. New England may prefer to put him on the practice squad instead of releasing him, but it's clear they are not happy with his play.
As a rookie, Brissett passed for 400 yards and ran for 83 yards and a touchdown in three appearances.
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Mike Gillislee dealing with hamstring injury
Patriots running back Mike Gillislee has missed the last few days of camp with a hamstring injury. He's not expected to miss a significant amount of time with the injury, but he will not play against the Jaguars on Tuesday.
New England signed Gillislee to a two-year, $6.4 million deal this offseason. He rushed for 577 yards and eight touchdowns on 101 carries for the Bills last season.
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