One of the few bright spots in last night's 23-6 pre-season loss to the Washington Redskins was Jimmy Garoppolo's impressive performance under center. Phil Perry wrote a full recap on Garoppolo's night over at Comcast SportsNet.
"In the pocket, it looked like Garoppolo didn't have to process too much. He made his reads quickly and decisively pulled the trigger time and again," wrote Perry. "Garoppolo appeared to have the ability to make each throw on time and with accuracy.
View photos from the Patriots preseason game against the Washington Redskins on Thursday, August 7, 2014.
New England Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis warms up before an NFL football preseason game against Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots helmets are carried across the field before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III warms up before an NFL football preseason game against the New England Patriots in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms up before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Lipski)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms up before an NFL football preseason game against the New England Patriots in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms up before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms up before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Lipski)
New England Patriots assistant coach Michael Lombardi. left, shakes hands with oach Bill Belichick before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick looks across the field before an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) stands in the tunnel with his teammates before heading out on to the field for an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. Brandy was not expected to play during the game. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III waits to be introduced before the first half of an NFL football preseason game against the New England Patriots in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Lipski)
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady stands on the sidelines during the first half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots quarterback Ryan Mallett scrambles out of the pocket during the first half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots defensive back Malcolm Butler breaks up a pass intended for Washington Redskins wide receiver Aldrick Robinson during the first half of an NFL football preseason game in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Richard Lipski)
New England Patriots running back Roy Finch and Washington Redskins defensive back Akeem Davis chase a loose ball during the second half of an NFL football preseason game in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick during the second half of teh Patriots' NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Connor Radnovich)
New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo passes the ball during the second half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Connor Radnovich)
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick watches the action from the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Connor Radnovich)
New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo scrambles the ball during the second half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Connor Radnovich)
New England Patriots running back Roy Finch is hauled to the turf by Washington Redskins inside linebacker Will Compton during the first half of an NFL football preseason game in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Connor Radnovich)
New England Patriots wide receiver Brian Tyms loses control of the ball in the end zone on a hit from Washington Redskins defensive back Chase Minnifield during the second half of an NFL football preseason game in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots wide receiver Brian Tyms climbs out of the end-zone seats after landing there following a touchdown catch during the second half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. The Redskins defeated the Patriots 23-6. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
New England Patriots wide receiver Brian Tyms (84) is congratulated by his teammates after a touchdown catch during the second half of an NFL football preseason game against the Washington Redskins in Landover, Md., Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014. The Redskins defeated the Patriots 23-6. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Garoppolo's strong performance bumped him to the top of Erik Frenz's stock watch list on Boston.com. Frenz had Malcolm Butler, Tavon Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brian Tyms as players who's stock is on the rise after last night's game. On the opposite side of the spectrum, Ryan Mallett, Ryan Wendell, Roy Finch, and Nate Solder made the list as players who's stock is falling. ** Mike Reiss posted his own stock watch list for ESPN Boston and had Butler, Tyms, and Garoppolo also on the rise.
Reiss also followed up on Chris Jones' injury from last night. He says that Jones is likely to miss the rest of the preseason with a left ankle injury. According to the report, the injury does not appear to be season-ending but more tests are scheduled for today to confirm the initial diagnosis.
CSN's Tom Curran posted what he thought were the best and worst takeaways from the game last night. Meanwhile, back in Massachusetts, Phil Perry joined Michael Felger and Lou Merloni on "Sports Tonight" to discuss all the positives and negatives from the Patriots performance.
"Logan Ryan was a guy I thought struggled tonight," said Perry on the show. "He had a had a really good camp up until tonight. He got burned a couple times tonight on a slant that I thought he should have been able to cover a little bit better."
One of the common beliefs prior to the Patriots' Thursday night matchup against the Washington Redskins was that the team chose to sit Tom Brady in order to showcase Ryan Mallett and boost his trade value. Despite Mallett's poor performance last night, Chris Gasper of the Boston Globe is convinced the Patriots are still on a mission to pump up his value.
"But if Mallett were so good, don't you think that Bill Belichick would be fighting to keep him as Brady's successor, and not pumping Mallett's trade value the way it was getting pumped up around May's NFL Draft?" wrote Gasper.
This idea that the Patriots are trying to showcase Mallett has caught on like wildfire, but ESPN's Adam Schefter says that none of it is true. Schefter believes that Mallett has a lot more value to the Patriots than he does to other teams around the league.
"The truth of the matter is, at the draft and now, he has never been close to being traded," said Schefter. "They're not trading Mallett now. That speculation continues to go on, but there's really not a lot to it right now."
