It did not look much like Tom Brady’s version of the New England Patriots, but when Jacoby Brissett rolled over the right tackle on a bootleg and sprinted for the end zone in the first quarter of Thursday night’s game against the Houston Texans, he made quite a statement about his readiness for the N.F.L.

Brissett’s 27-yard touchdown run, which included breaking through Andre Hal’s tackle attempt and evading a diving attempt by Jonathan Joseph, helped New England get off to a 10-0 lead in the opening quarter.

The Patriots’ defense and special teams did the rest of the hard work, as New England chugged along to a 27-0 victory and improved to 3-0.

There was plenty of fear among Patriots fans heading into the game that Brissett, a rookie drafted in the third round out of North Carolina State, would be overmatched on Thursday, but New England had simply run out of options with Brady suspended for the first four weeks of the season and Jimmy Garoppolo, who played well in two starts, out with an injured throwing shoulder.