Jimmy Garoppolo on unfamiliar spotlight: 'You have to get used to it'
The New England Patriots have been accustom to having just one quarterback in the spotlight for the past 15 years. Now, there's two.
With Tom Brady slated to serve a four game suspension to open the season, Jimmy Garoppolo has stepped into the spotlight -- something he isn't necessarily used to.
"At Eastern Illinois, we had the same amount of media," Garoppolo said jokingly, via Stephen Hewitt of the Boston Herald. "It’s been a little bit of an adjustment. I’m getting more and more used to it as we go, but it comes with the job I guess. You have to get used to it."
Coming from a small school, Garoppolo didn't get much national attention. Even around the time of the NFL Draft, he was an underrated prospect who didn't find himself in the media too often.
"There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that you don’t really know about until you’re in the spotlight, I guess, but you have to have fun with it, right?" He said.
Garoppolo is preparing to lead the defending Super Bowl champions in the early parts of the upcoming season, which is no small task. Expectations are high for the young quarterback, given the success the Patriots have had under Brady. While it's a big change from a year ago, Garoppolo appears ready.
"There’s a big switch from last year to this year, but that’s the nature of the beast I guess," he said. "There’s a good amount of things that I think I have improved in, but week to week everything changes. Just adjusting to the game plan that we put in this week compared to last week. Just handling new information, really."
Garoppolo will get his first career start under the bright lights of Thursday Night Football against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 10. If he thinks the media attention has been massive now, wait until Week 1 comes. Garoppolo will be one of the most talked about quarterbacks entering the regular season.
(h/t Boston Herald)
