Dareus “hates” that Brady unlikely to play Wk 4

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Brady for four games, alleging the quarterback knew of a scheme to deflate footballs in the AFC Championship Game in early 2015 against the Baltimore Colts.

As the Tom Brady Deflategate scandal appears to be winding down and a four-game suspension looms for the New England Patriots quarterback, the first four teams on the schedule should be breathing a sigh of relief.

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus reportedly told the NFL Network Wednesday that he “hates” that he won’t face the Patriots with Brady in the first month of the season.

Brady can still appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it accepts to review only a small fraction of cases it considers.

Brady and the NFL Players Association fought the CBA.

And for the next three games, all at home, vs. the Dolphins, Texans and Bills.

Daniel J. Mahoney is a longtime New England labor attorney.

Big doings at the time. Normally, Brady would take a huge number of reps, but would play sporadically in the exhibition matches. New England is aiming for redemption in their next campaign. Yet offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels must be careful not to get in the way of Brady’s prep. If the court ruled in the middle of the year or even near the end, he could miss critical games down the stretch – including playoff games or even the Super Bowl, if the ruling came in that late.

At stake for the Patriots was not only the availability of their quarterback for a quarter of the season, but their legacy as an National Football League dynasty. Rookie Jacoby Brissett would be the only backup to the untested Garoppolo, hardly an ideal situation for anything except a rebuilding team.

“The income is less important than the footnote that he missed four games due to suspension”, he explained.

Brady had said that it was his practice to destroy his phone and SIM cards whenever he got a replacement phone. He doesn’t. So finding someone willing to be nothing more than a camp body would be the Patriots’ chore.

When asked about a possible compromise between Brady and the league, Goodell responded, “At this stage, no. The courts will make their decisions, and we’ll move forward on that basis”.

A second-round pick out of Eastern Illinois in 2014, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound Garoppolo has thrown just 31 passes in the regular season. The question is will they be starting their trophy quest with or without Tom Brady is still to be answered, but not looking good.

The Patriots report for training camp in two weeks, and a suspended player is allowed to practice with the team during camp and participate in preseason games.