What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Cardinals
Sunday, September 11, 2016
The New England Patriots will visit the Arizona Cardinals tonight in the 2016 season opener with kickoff set for 8:30 p.m.
This is the Patriots first meeting with the Cardinals since 2012.
See What to Watch for in the Slideshow Below
“Seeing obviously a lot of the film on the Cardinals. It's a really impressive team. I think they do a lot of things well. They're obviously well coached. They have a good organization. They've done a great job of building the team and [have] a lot of strengths, a lot of things, a lot to deal with,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick in a press conference earlier this week.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe game will mark Jimmy Garoppolo’s first career NFL start, and marks the first time since the 2001 that a quarterback other than Tom Brady has started a season opener for the Patriots.
“This is why you play the game. You play to be in the game and play; you don't want to be the backup. The opportunity is here. I've just got to go take advantage of it,” said Garoppolo in his Wednesday press conference.
The last time we saw Jimmy Garoppolo was in the Patriots third preseason game against Carolina. Garoppolo went 9 of 15 for 57 yards and had a fumble, an intentional grounding penalty and a near interception.
“In preseason, you don't really game plan as much as you do in the regular season. We're really getting into that; just the finer little details that you go over, just every down. It's been going really good,” said Garoppolo.
Injury Report
On Friday, the Patriots ruled out tight end Rob Gronkowski, left tackle Nate Solder and guard Jonathan Cooper.
Gronkowski and Solder are both recovering from hamstring injuries that they suffered during training camp and the preseason respectively.
Cooper has been back at practice but is still working his way back from a foot injury which he suffered early in camp.
See What to Watch for in the Slideshow Below
Related Slideshow: 5 Things to Watch For: Patriots vs. Cardinals
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