FOXBORO -- Jimmy Garoppolo didn't do much at Tuesday's OTA practice other than ride a stationary bike.
Instead of stretching and warming up with his teammates early in the session, he rode the bike. Instead of getting in some throws with fellow quarterbacks Tom Brady and Jacoby Brissett, he spoke to head trainer Jim Whalen and headed down to the base of what are known as The Hills. Once there, he rode the bike some more. Eventually Garoppolo's workout escalated to pushups and body squats, but he did not participate in practice.
Colleague and resident genius Tom E. Curran said on Boston Sports Tonight last week that Garoppolo sustained a calf strain which ended his practice last Thursday. Garoppolo did not appear to walk with any hint of a limp, and while on the bike, there were stretches where it appeared he was pedaling at a decent clip.
Garoppolo's absence led to an increased workload for second-year quarterback Jacoby Brissett. The day began smoothly for Brissett, who appeared to have good command at the line of scrimmage during 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 work. His passes came out on time and he put the proper amount of touch on a pair of deep completions to rookie receiver Cody Hollister and second-year back DJ Foster.
Later in the practice, Brissett was given the last couple of 11-on-11 series. The results weren't quite as silky. He had a screen pass that had to be spike into the ground because the defense sniffed it out. He had overthrows deep down the field. He had an incompletion after it looked like his foot was stepped on.
Call them learning experiences for a young signal-caller who is in the final week of what Bill Belichick refers to as "teaching camp." He'll take them when he can get them because whenever Garoppolo is back to full strength, many of those reps will be returned to Tom Brady's No. 2.