FOXBORO -- It was expected that Jimmy Garoppolo's availability Sunday would be a true "game-time" decision, but the decision actually came about 2 1/2 hours before kickoff.
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According to a source, the Patriots will start Jacoby Brissett at quarterback against the Bills. Garoppolo will be inactive.
The hope was that Garoppolo, listed as questionable on Fridays injury report, would have been ready to go. But he is just two weeks removed from the Grade 2 AC separation he suffered against the Dolphins, an injury which has a two-to-four week recovery time.
The only time the media saw Garoppolo throw this week was Wednesday when he soft-tossed some short throws and arced a few mid-range throws but didn't show any ability to throw with velocity.
On both Thursday and Friday, the media was hustled away before Garoppolo threw any passes.
CSN New England's Mike Giardi has been on top of Garoppolo's status throughout the week and reported this morning that there is still some pain to conquer.