Brady Likely Out For Pats Preseason Opener Thursday

After spending Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of New York for a settlement conference revolving around the appeal of his 4-game suspension for Deflategate, it seems Tom Brady will not be thrust into action when the Patriots open their preseason slate at home against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN, the New England coaching staff is not planning on playing their star quarterback after he missed both Tuesday's practice and Wednesday's pregame walk-through.

Reiss also pointed to injuries along the starting group of offensive linemen as a possible reason for Brady to be held out of the team's first regular season rehearsal.

With Brady likely out entirely, the focus now shifts to backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has worked extensively with the first team unit since training camp began. Garoppolo is the likely candidate to start in place of Brady if the three time Superbowl MVP's suspension is upheld.

The interesting thing to keep in mind though is that New England is already very thin at the quarterback position. After releasing their original third option, Matt Flynn, due to a hamstring injury on Monday, New England quickly scooped up free agent Ryan Lindley.

While he's been a Patriot since Monday, Lindley hasn't had much time to get accustomed to the system and his new teammates. That could lead to Garoppolo being forced to play much more than originally anticipated.

As a team that's already suffering from a multitude of offensive injuries and the uncertainty of their top quarterback's availability, the last thing the Pats need is their backup being overextended and injured in a game that doesn't count.