The New England Patriots could be without Jimmy Garoppolo after he suffered an apparent AC sprain in his throwing shoulder Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. It's being said he might be out 3-4 weeks with the injury. At the very least, Garoppolo will not play Thursday against the Houston Texans. Instead, rookie Jacoby Brissett will likely get the start. 

The first thing to note here is that this pretty much eliminates Garoppolo from fantasy relevance for the remainder of the year. If he's indeed out 3-4 weeks, that time frame bleeds into Tom Brady's return from suspension. That's the important thing to look at as it relates to the Pats' quarterback situation and the fake football world. 

Over the short term, there's no real reason to believe anyone on the Patriots can be considered a fantasy play against what has become a dominant Houston Texans defense on Thursday. Likely trotting out a rookie quarterback is never a great thing. Doing so on a short week only adds to this. Though, there might be one or two interesting fantasy plays on the Pats come Thursday night. More than anything, it's about the situation. 

Jacoby Brissett did complete 6-of-9 passes for nearly 100 yards in Garoppolo's stead on Sunday, but that was without the Dolphins preparing for him. Give the Texans a few days of preparation, and it likely won't be pretty. 

What we can say, and this is always a crap shoot when it comes to the Pats, is that LeGarrette Blount will likely see a ton of action on the ground Thursday. He went for 123 yards and a touchdown on 29 attempts Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Those are some very un-Patriot like numbers. They also point to an offense that's evolving without Brady in the mix. 

Rob Gronkowski didn't play for the second consecutive game on Sunday with a hamstring injury. It's hard to imagine him being able to go on a short week when Thursday comes calling. 

In this, Martellus Bennett might actually act like a solid under-the-radar DFS play. While it's hard to rely on any pass catcher with a rookie signal caller making his first start against a dominant defense, there's something to the idea of Brissett potentially relying on Bennett as a safety valve. 

That's pretty much the extent of the Patrots' fantasy relevance should Brissett get the nod Thursday. Maybe rely on Blount as a workhorse with Bennett being the only viable pass-catching option.