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CHRISTOPHER L. GASPER

Jacoby Brissett last man standing for Patriots

FOXBOROUGH — The ultimate Next Man Up team is down to the Last Guy Left at the most important position on the field — quarterback.

What has already been a surreal season because of the four-game Deflategate suspension for Tom Brady and the vigil for Rob Gronkowski’s hamstring delved deeper into the Twilight Zone on Sunday at Gillette Stadium with Jimmy Garoppolo getting injured in a 31-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots are 2-0 in the Brady-free portion of their schedule, but now they’re down to a rookie quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, with as many career starts as you. The name Jacoby is relevant again in Boston sports.

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That hand-rubbing and maniacal laughter you heard when Jimmy G struggled to leave the field with 4:20 left in the second quarter after sustaining a right shoulder injury was emanating from 345 Park Avenue, the home office of the NFL. It looked like the Patriots were going to avoid the repercussions of Brady’s suspension because of the emergence of Garoppolo.

Now, the fragile nature of health in pro football has dealt them the punishment commissioner Roger Goodell intended. Jimmy G’s injury did what coaches and quarterbacks in the AFC East have been trying to do since 2001 — it leveled the playing field with the Patriots.

The Dolphins were getting smoked before Garoppolo’s injury. They battled back to put the game in doubt until Ryan Tannehill was intercepted in the end zone from the Patriots’ 29 with two seconds left.

Brady’s understudy was enjoying a coming-out party in the home opener before he had to come out of the game, after scrambling to his right and absorbing a big hit from Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso to complete a 15-yard pass to Malcolm Mitchell to the Miami 21.

That left the Patriots with Brissett, a third-round pick from North Carolina State, for the final 34-plus minutes.

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The Patriots have gone from Brady to Jimmy to Jacoby. They’ve gone from the most accomplished QB in the game to the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency QB.

Unless Garoppolo has his own Alex Guerrero faith healer, it’s likely that Thursday against the Houston Texans the Patriots will start a rookie at quarterback for the first time since Drew Bledsoe started the 1993 season finale against the Dolphins on Jan. 2, 1994.

Bledsoe is Kevin Bacon in a Patriots quarterback version of six degrees of separation. The question is whether the injury to Garoppolo will eliminate the obvious separation that exists between the Patriots and the rest of the underwhelming AFC East, while we eagerly await the time when Brady is throwing passes to Julian Edelman, not kids and college football coaches.

Having a rookie at the controls wasn’t a problem Sunday because Garoppolo looked like Aaron Rodgers before getting hurt and Dolphins rookie coach Adam Gase looked like another guy burying himself in his play sheet while his team got buried by Bill Belichick.

Garoppolo (18 of 27 for 234 yards and three scores) was dissecting the Dolphins’ defense like a cadaver. He handed Brissett a 21-0 lead and an in-progress drive that made it 24-0.

Garoppolo started 8 for 8. He hit 9 of his first 10 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns, a 12-yarder to Danny Amendola and a 20-yarder to Martellus Bennett, the gregarious tight end’s first TD as a Patriot.

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It was 21-0 after Jimmy G found Amendola again, easily beating a Miami blitz, with 13:10 left in the first half. At that point, Garoppolo was 14 of 17 for 195 yards and three touchdowns, while Miami had run six offensive plays.

“Jimmy was playing unbelievable. The kid was playing lights-out,” said Patriots wide receiver Chris Hogan. “This is the NFL. That kind of stuff happens. We were fortunate enough that Jacoby was able to come in and step in. He played well when he got in there.”

Brissett showed what the baseball folks call great makeup. You can see why Bill Parcells “football adopted” the kid.

LeGarrette Blount (123 yards rushing and a touchdown) and the offensive line gave Brissett, who finished 6 of 9 for 92 yards, the safety net he needed to survive his NFL baptism.

The injury to Garoppolo really put the governor on the Patriots’ offense, however.

After leading, 24-3, at the half, they managed to score one touchdown with Brissett. It came after a fumble on the opening drive of the second half by Miami running back Jay Ajayi, one of four Miami turnovers.

Aided by a 37-yard catch-and-run from Bennett, the Patriots drove 68 yards in five plays to go up, 31-3.

Then Brissett and the Patriots assumed the brace position and navigated a safe landing.

“You have to give a lot of credit to this Patriots organization, no matter who is in there at quarterback for them they always have a great game plan,” said Dolphins defensive back Michael Thomas. “It was a whole different game once Garoppolo went out . . . They are a great organization, and they find a way to make plays.”

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If you always see the silver lining inside those silver Patriots helmets, then Garoppolo’s injury may be a blessing in disguise for Belichick.

He doesn’t have to worry about any quarterback controversy when Brady returns. Other teams got enough of a glimpse of Jimmy G to know that he is the most valuable of NFL commodities, a starting quarterback. Now, Brissett gets some experience, too.

These things tend to go the Patriots’ way.

But you have to feel for Garoppolo. His teammates did.

“I know Jimmy has worked so hard to get himself ready to go, and he’s put himself in a great position to seize his moment, so to speak,” said Matthew Slater. “It’s tough to see that, so you really feel for the guy.”

We’re only an eighth of the way into the season, and it has already been a wild ride.

Luckily, the Canton-bound QB cavalry is only two games away.


Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.