Jacoby Brissett is set to make his first NFL start, and a little history, too

Number of starts by a black QB in Patriots history: zero.

Jacoby Brissett appears days away from his first-career NFL start. Tom Brady is suspended, Jimmy Garoppolo is hurt, and according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Patriots do not have plans to bring in a free agent quarterback.

A start for Brissett on Thursday against Houston would be the cap on a whirlwind couple of months as a pro. It would also make history: no black quarterback has ever started a game for New England. As MassLive.com’s Nick O’Malley outlines here, the Patriots have had several black quarterbacks see time on the field, but none of them ever earned a start.

That fact just adds to the whole surreal nature of Brissett being in this spot this early in his career.

Heading into the year, there always lingered the possibility that Brissett would be forced into action because of Brady’s suspension, but I don’t think anybody expected it to really happen. After the game on Sunday, he was met by a zillion reporters at his locker, which is probably not how he saw his day going. Life comes at you fast, man.

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