FOXBORO — The Patriots listed seven players as inactive some 90 minutes prior to the start of their game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills, who closed out the afternoon with a 16-0 victory at Gillette Stadium.

No one paid much heed to the fact guard Jonathan Cooper, running back D.J. Foster and defensive back Eric Rowe were among those who wouldn’t be suiting up. But the presence of third-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on the list, and his absence from a second straight game led to a slew of speculation that has continued into a new week.

Chiefly, when did the Patriots know Garoppolo, who sprained the AC joint in his right shoulder in the first half of a win over the Miami Dolphins on Sept. 18, wouldn’t be able to play?

And was coach Bill Belichick upset with Garoppolo because he felt the third-year QB was healthy enough — or, at least, should have been tough enough — to give it a go in a key AFC East game?

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels answered the second question Monday morning, noting he’s never questioned the toughness of any player he’s coached.

"Jimmy worked hard to get ready to go all week," McDaniels said during an interview on WEEI. "I don’t have any knowledge of any of that stuff. I just know he was trying as hard as he could to prepare to play. And then (Sunday) they told me Jacoby (Brissett) would be the starter."

Brissett, who is dealing with an injured right thumb, made his second straight start in place of Garoppolo, who was filling in for the suspended Tom Brady.

The rookie was uneven, completing 17-of-27 passes for 205 yards in the Patriots’ first loss of the season. He didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception, but was sacked three times and lost a fumble.

The severity of Garoppolo’s shoulder injury isn’t known, but Tom Curran of Comcast SportsNet New England reported last month it’s a Grade 2 sprain, meaning a torn ligament is involved. The typical recovery time for such an injury is two to four weeks.

Garoppolo, under contract through 2017, was 42-of-59 for 496 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions in nearly six quarters of work in place of Brady. He was injured Sept. 18 when Miami Dolphins linebacker Kiko Alonso drove him into the turf at the end of a pass play.

So that was two weeks ago, or the minimum recovery time.

Garoppolo was limited at all three practices leading up to Sunday’s game. He was listed as questionable on the final injury report submitted to the league late Friday afternoon.

Under the new league guidelines that meant "it was uncertain as to whether the player would play." Under the old guidelines, a questionable listing meant the player had a 50-50 chance of playing.

The odds apparently were slightly tilted after the injury report was submitted as ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported over the weekend Garoppolo suffered a setback sometime in the 48 hours prior to Sunday’s game.

Still, McDaniels said the decision to start Brissett and sit Garoppolo wasn’t made until a few hours prior to kickoff.

Belichick was less forthcoming when discussing how things played out with Garoppolo not playing during a conference call Monday.

The still-perturbed coach — the man does not taking losing well — did appear to confirm Schefter’s report when asked if he thought on Friday or Saturday that Garoppolo had a chance to play Sunday.

“We listed him as questionable,” Belichick said. “So when we list a player as questionable it’s 50-50 that we think they can play. That’s why they’re listed as questionable. I mean, look, you can’t do an injury report every five minutes. ...

“I mean, you know, at some point that 50-50 either goes to they can play or they can’t play. We listed him on the injury report based on what we knew at 4 p.m. on Friday or whatever time the injury report was turned in. That’s what it was.”

And what it is going forward is Brady has been reinstated as the starter now that his four-game suspension is over and Garoppolo, once his shoulder has sufficiently healed, will go back to being a backup and not be at the forefront of the ceaseless speculation that comes with being the quarterback of the Patriots.