Giardi: Brissett’s development a work in progress – Comcast SportsNet New England

FOXBORO --If you were hoping for Jacoby Brissett to make a strong case at the start of training camp that he, not Jimmy Garoppolo, is the quarterback in waiting, sorry to disappoint. Brissetts camp has been more uneven than fourth-year man Garoppolo's . . .and as weve detailed with number 10, it hasnt exactly been smooth sailing for him, either.

How does Brissett feel hes performed to this point?

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"I don't do evaluations. You have to ask [coach Bill Belichick] that, he said following Wednesdays lengthy walkthrough with the Jaguars.

Well, we did do that, Jacoby. But unlike his radio appearance on SiriusXM last week, when Belichick called Brissetts situation both unique and interesting, this time the coach wasnt exactly expansive.

"Well, its a work in progress, he said. Well see. Were a little over a week into training camp -- 10, 11 practices --so weve got a long way to go. Well see.

What weve seen so far is a second-year quarterback showing some signs of improvement: Brissett now is willing to try and put the ball into tighter windows, and clearly has a better grasp of the system. However, the former North Carolina State standout still has a long delivery, a penchant for staring down his target and a reluctance to come off that target, a lack of touch and a propensity to deliver many of his throws high, sometimes endangering support staff and fans with his 107 mile-per-hour fastball.

Being in the NFL is a challenge, said Brissett. Every day, youre going against the best in the world.

Brissett did rise up to the challenge last year when thrown into the fire, subbing for the injured Garoppolo midway through the Dolphins game in Week 2, then holding down the fort in Week 3 versus the Texans before being exposed in his final outing of the year against the Bills. His stint on injured reserve following that game certainly took the wind out of the sails as Belichick noted on Sirius, but Brissett insists the mental gymnastics he subjected himself to were -- like they are now -- critical to his growth.

The most important part is the reps I dont get, he said. The times I get to sit down and watch and learn from those guys, so I think [being] able to sit back and watch helped me a lot.

Brissett believes it was those reps, even when he didnt know what I was doing, that helped him prepare for what life is like now, when there are many days where the young signal caller doesnt get much work in 11-on-11 situations until sometimes right at the very end of practice.

Its just like a game, he said when I asked him. Its like the Dolphins game. I wasnt playing the whole game then unfortunately the injury happened to Jimmy so you get thrown into the fire so you just gotta be ready to go whenever the time comes.

He wasnt all that ready at the end of Tuesdays joint practice with the Jags, leading to an amusing scenario in which the entire group he was working with had to do pushups. Even Belichick joined in.

I was impressed he did em, smiled Brissett. When he was asked if he had an idea of how many pushups Belichick could muster, Brissett did the smartest thing he could do:I dont want to say the wrong number to offend him so Im gonna leave that for him. He can tell you how many.

Then he was off, with a smile, presumably to get as many mental reps as possible and, hopefully, improve.

FOXBORO -- If you ever asked Vince Wilfork about his weight during the last few years of his Patriots career, he gave the same answer: 325 pounds. That's how he was listed on the Patriots roster, and no matter what kind of prodding you did, you got the same three digits. And, no, he wouldn't be stepping on a scale for you.

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In reporting a story on the Patriots nutritional approach back in 2014, Wilfork -- who was feeling as strong as ever late in the season due to what he said were some changes to his diet -- was anticipating my disbelief before he even had the chance to proudlyboast about his weight.

"Everybody always questions me because I got a big belly," Wilfork said with a smile. "I tell them all the time that I'm always gonna have a belly. I'm always gonna have a belly. That's my trademark. I'm gonna have a belly. But when you do body-fat tests and all that stuff, all my fat is in my stomach. Everywhere else, I mean, you cut my belly out you'd think I'm a linebacker or something. You know what I mean? Everyone always questions me about that, but there's no question. That's what it is. Just because I got a big belly, I'm proportioned a little bit differently than everybody else."

Proportioned differently, yes. But during Wilfork's retirement announcement on Wednesday, Bill Belichick said that Wilfork always made weight during his Patriots career, just as anybody else would be expected to.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft brought up Wilfork's "trademark" when herecalled a trip that the Wilforks andKrafts once madeto Florence, Italy.

"I remember Vince saying he had camp coming up, and he wanted to eat healthy and just eat protein," Kraft said. "This place was famous for pasta and they brought many pastas and meat and desserts. Vince was a full participant in every course, not wanting to make them feel bad. I'd check when he came back here, and he was able to pass his run, but I think he might have been a few pounds overweight and had to pay a fine --which Bill, I really should have paid because I brought him there."

Belichick made sure to double-checkwith Wilfork on stage, but he then made a quick correction to Kraft's story when he got his chance to speak.

"This is maybe surprising, but its true," Belichick started. "Vince never one time was fined for being overweight and never one time missed the conditioning test. The conditioning test honestly wasnt even close. Vince could run. That was never an issue. There were times when he would come in for the weigh-ins and we would say, like, 'Man,is he going to make it today?'But 11 years, never fined one time for being overweight.

Belichick paused. "Now Im not saying he was never overweight. Im not saying that," he said. "Im saying at weigh-in, he made every weigh-in."

Wilfork laughed before taking his turn at the podium to announce his retirement officially. "Yeah, I never missed a weigh-in," he said. "But catch me 30 minutes later and it might be a different story. Thats just being honest."

Wilfork is, after all, a man who broke the news of his own retirement with a video that featured him smoking ribs in his overalls.

Greg Bedard says that if Ezekiel Elliott were Tom Brady, he would already be suspended.

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Giardi: Brissett's development a work in progress - Comcast SportsNet New England