New England Patriots OTA’s: Jimmy Garoppolo Intercepted Five Times

The New England Patriots held their second “open” (to the media) practice today, and the biggest headline from the day was how Jimmy Garoppolo fared in the two-middle portion of practice. Keep in mind that it is just June, and this was a non-padded practice.

Don’t. Rush. To. Conclusions.

First, here is Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald giving us some of his observations:

"Notable absences: Dont’a Hightower (torn shoulder labrum), Jerod Mayo (torn patellar), Sebastian Vollmer (offseason surgery), Ryan Wendell (offseason surgery), Chandler Jones (hip), Sealver Siliga, Chris Jones, Alan Branch, Malcolm Butler, Brandon LaFellJimmy Garoppolo had a brutal stretch to close practice, as five of his final 31 passes were intercepted during 11-on-11 drills, including four picks in 25 throws during a period that focused on the two-minute offense. Two were deflected, including one that was thrown behind a leaping Aaron Dobson. One was batted at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by an unidentified linebacker. One was underthrown and picked by Bradley Fletcher on a fade to Dobson in the end zone. The final was led too far on a slant route and picked by Jimmy Jean.Brady was 22-of-30 with one interception (deflection to Devin McCourty) in 11-on-11s and 8-of-11 in 7-on-7s. Brady was 17-of-20 in the two-minute offense, including completions on 14 of his first 15 attempts, with the incompletion being a drop in the end zone.Garoppolo was 23-of-35 with the five picks in 11-on-11s and 10-of-11 in 7-on-7s. He was 15-of-25 with the four picks in the two-minute session.Logan Ryan was all over the ball today with three pass breakups. He has been the Patriots’ No. 1 cornerback in practice.Brady had a side session with Gronkowski and Scott Chandler, who has been very actively involved with the offense. He’s been a surprise of the last two weeks."

Back to the Garoppolo issue, I really hope Patriots fans don’t blow this out of proportion. Everybody has a bad day at the office sometimes, even the great Tom Brady. Now, maybe Brady won’t throw five interceptions at practice, but I promise before the summer is complete, we will be getting reports from Foxboro saying Brady was a touch off in drills.

With that said, this also shows that Garoppolo is far from the legend some make him out to be. I am a huge fan of Garoppolo, and once Brady decides to call it quits, I think we are in great hands. But that is going to come with a few more years of development. Right now Garoppolo has a ton of potential, but he must keep working on it to become great. Based on today’s practice, decision-making should be at the top of the list.

It’s also good to hear Logan Ryan is doing well, as he is projected (along with Malcolm Butler) to be the top cornerback for New England going forward. He had a very good rookie season, but dropped off in year two. Hopefully he can regain that first year form in 2015.

Brady being lase-sharp is not surprise, as he is always looking to improve his game in the summer, but this year, I knew he would be extra motivated because of deflate-gate. I can’t wait for him to annihilate the NFL come September.