The Sports Xchange

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Even with Tom Brady getting the surprise start in the New England Patriots’ preseason opener Thursday night against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium, the quarterback most in the summertime spotlight of exhibition action was second-year backup Jimmy Garoppolo.

With Brady’s four-game suspension currently still very much up in the air as the NFL and NFL Players Association battle it out in a federal courtroom in New York, Garoppolo’s development is about more than just his natural progression as a second-round pick. Rather, it is whether he is ready to play a game (or four) in Brady’s absence for the defending Super Bowl champions.

After three-plus quarters of action behind an admittedly patchwork offensive line and with limited weapons against an aggressive Green Bay defense, Garoppolo’s readiness remains in question.

The former Eastern Illinois star finished the 22-11 loss to the Packers completing 20 of 30 passes for 159 yards with no touchdowns and one interception for a 65.8 passer rating.

Garoppolo was sacked seven times behind a line that included no returning starters and five players — including three rookies — with a combined zero NFL starts.

“There were ups and downs,” Garoppolo admitted afterward. “We’ve got a long way to go, obviously.”

The ups included a stretch in the third quarter when he seemed to find some rhythm in the offense and completed 10 straight throws. The downs obviously included the interception, the seven sacks and a number of poorly thrown deep balls intended for speedster Josh Boyce, who was targeted 11 times for just a pair of completions.

In fact, take away Garoppolo’s nine throws intended for Boyce — which led to seven incompletions, including the interception — and the passer was an impressive 18 of 21 to his underneath targets.

Something to build on, which is what the young passer feels he has already done when compared to where he was at this time a year ago as a rookie.

“Night and day — last year, it’s not even really a comparison,” Garoppolo said.

After breaking down the film from the somewhat sloppy August opener, coach Bill Belichick clearly saw the offensive issues as more than about his developing quarterback.

“Obviously, there are a lot of things we could work on (when) you get sacked seven times — that and throwing for interceptions,” Belichick said. “We could protect better. We could certainly do a better job of getting open and giving the quarterback somewhere to throw, times we could make quicker decisions in terms of getting rid of the ball.”

It was a first step if not a first start of the summer for Garoppolo. It was a step forward and a learning experience.

And, if Brady’s appeal through the courts is successful and No. 12 is on the field opening night against the Steelers in Foxborough, none of it will matter the way people think it does right now.

Garoppolo is a clear work in progress. If he has to play on opening night, only then will the world find out exactly how that progression is going.

Patriots fans certainly hope that won’t be the case.

–Running back James White had a nice night in the preseason opener against the Packers, the second-year back catching four passes for a game-high 52 yards.

The 2014 fourth-round pick is vying to replace the departed Shane Vereen in New England’s pass-catching back role. According to his head coach, the work against Green Bay was another step in the right direction for the young back who was a healthy scratch in 13 games as a rookie.

“I think James has had a real good training camp. He’s a versatile player that has shown the ability to play on all four downs, does a good job in the passing game,” Belichick said. “He had an opportunity to pick up the blitz, make some catches, handle the ball a little bit. I thought he did a good job in the open field of making a couple players miss and gaining some extra yards. So, it was a good step for him. He really didn’t get a chance to play very much last year after preseason, and James has worked hard.

“Again, still a long way to go, a lot of things that he needs to work on, but he definitely showed up with some positive plays. Again, hopefully he can build on those going forward, and find a way to contribute on all four downs for us. That’s what we need and that would be his value for us if he can do that.”

White was also pretty upbeat about his first action of the summer.

“It was a great feeling,” White said of his play, which included a nice 17-yard catch-and-run. “Good to get out there with my teammates, getting a chance to go out there and compete with another team. So I just wanted to go out there and make plays and make no mental errors.”

–Free safety Devin McCourty is clearly among those Patriots looking forward to the team’s trip to West Virginia this week for joint practices with the Saints prior to the teams getting together in New Orleans for the second preseason game next Saturday night.

“It’s always fun,” McCourty said of joint practice action. “I think it helps training camp a little bit when you get to go out there and practice against a different team, see different looks, not seeing the same guys, hitting on the same guys every day. I also think it’s good for the young guys. You get to see a different look. You come into the NFL and it’s just your team, you start to think that’s all you’re going to see. Obviously, our offense gives us a lot, but I think it’s always good to see other good players, especially on defense to see a guy like Drew Brees in practice, that will definitely help.”

The Patriots will arrive at the Greenbrier resort late on Tuesday, practice with the Saints on Wednesday through Friday and then travel to New Orleans for Saturday’s game.