Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett reportedly suffers thumb injury in Week 3 win

The New England Patriots’ bizarre start to the season may get even weirder after news surfaced that Jacoby Brissett suffered a thumb injury on Thursday, which may require surgery to repair.

Mike Petraglia of WEEI reported that Brissett suffered a torn ligament in his thumb that will require surgery; however, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network said the injury isn’t as serious, although he confirmed that the rookie’s thumb was bothering him on the sideline.

If the injury keeps Brissett out of action at all, the Patriots will be forced to go back to the drawing board for Week 4, the final matchup of Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for DeflateGate.

In the first two weeks, Jimmy Garoppolo took the reins for the Patriots, but he suffered a shoulder injury in a 31-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 2. What’s most unclear now is how healthy Garoppolo is after another week of recovery from his AC joint sprain.

The Patriots attempted — or at least made it look that way — to get Garoppolo ready for a return to play in Week 3, but he was declared inactive and Brissett took the start in his place. New England didn’t miss a beat and demolished the Houston Texans, 27-0. Brissett finished the game 11-of-19 passing for 103 yards, but also added a 27-yard touchdown run.

If Brissett is out of action, the best-case scenario is Garoppolo being healthy enough to hold down the fort for one more week, but the Boston Herald said he was still struggling to lift his throwing arm at all in the days after the injury occurred.

The likely solution for the Patriots would be to sign a veteran to come in and start one game (no, it’s not going to be Peyton Manning). Somebody like Matt Flynn or T.J. Yates is a realistic option and quick patch at the position.

But the solution that would be really fun is Julian Edelman starting at quarterback. The Patriots wide receiver was a quarterback during his college days at Kent State and was the team’s backup on Thursday night after prepping for the role in practice.

It took just three days for Bill Belichick to design a gameplan for Brissett to beat the Texans and the rookie only finished with 103 passing yards. It would be fascinating to see what he could come up with given more than a week to prep for Edelman under center.

The Patriots host the Buffalo Bills in Week 4, an 0-2 team that allowed 37 points to the New York Jets in Week 2.