FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) - Patriots coach Bill Belichick remains mum on his team’s quarterback situation ahead of its game against division rival Buffalo this week.
Belichick declined to provide updates Monday on the health of Jimmy Garoppolo or rookie Jacoby Brissett, both of whom may be unavailable. Franchise quarterback Tom Brady will be serving the last game of his four-game “Deflategate” suspension.
Belichick wasn’t as tight-lipped about facing a challenging Bills rushing attack anchored by four-time Pro Bowl running back LeSean McCoy.
“McCoy is as good as it gets,” Belichick told reporters in a conference call. “The production that he has had is outstanding.”
McCoy ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns to help Buffalo earn its first win of the season in a 33-18 victory against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Bills (1-2) rank eighth in the NFL in rushing yardage (359 total, 119.7 per game) through three games.
New England’s running game has proven problematic for opponents as well. The Patriots (3-0) boast the league’s best ground game with 452 total yards, good for an average of 150.7 per game.
LeGarrette Blount has carried much of that workload and leads the league in rushing with 298 yards and four touchdowns.
Blount ran for 105 yards and two scores in the Patriots’ 27-0 win against the Houston Texans last Thursday.
“I always feel like if we can just get a hole, get him started, get him going, that he has a lot of ability to make yards on his own,” Belichick said.
Blount may be leaned on heavily once again if Garoppolo and Brissett are sidelined against Buffalo.
That would leave the Patriots without a healthy quarterback on their roster.
Brady is eligible to return from his suspension on Oct. 9 against the Cleveland Browns.
Garoppolo missed the game against Houston with a throwing shoulder injury that occurred during the second quarter of the New England’s contest against the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 18.
Brissett, the 91st overall pick in this year’s draft, sustained an apparent thumb injury while making his first career start Thursday against the Texans.
The former N.C. State standout scored his first career touchdown on a 27-yard run in the first quarter and finished 11 of 19 for 103 yards passing against the Texans.
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