What this leaves us with, as fans and as team observers (including the media) over the next few weeks until training camp begins, is nothing but a lot of quiet time. The team gets away for a final bit of R&R before the grind begins. And we wait until the pads begin to pop, with little to occupy our fervent minds, other than a lot of talk.

This quiet time often has a way of morphing into something also known as "the Silly Season."

You know the Silly Season. It's when there's little left to really discuss, to decide, to plan or even execute. It's when the upcoming season has already been planned in opinionated minds, so "What If?" becomes an easy topic or target. Contingency plans including the Big Picture often get discussed, because there is a certain amount of buy-in to an already anticipated, if not expected result.

This is ludicrous, of course. Pretty tough to foresee the future, with so many variables that can affect an outcome. Can you imagine what Bill Belichick's reaction might be if he took the time to read a message board about "what if's?"

So ridiculous.

But it makes for interesting conversation and thought. I read a comment last week running through a few different media circles and heard local talk show callers express concern - that Jimmy Garoppolo is "fragile," all because he missed the final OTA session with an injury.

There seemed to be doubt over his durability, due to his injured shoulder from last season, and distrust as to whether he's the type of player willing to do "whatever it takes" to be on the field at any given moment.

Really? All of that, based on riding an exercise bicycle instead of getting a few extra reps in during practice?

Look, he's a pro football player. Garoppolo is under contract making good money, with a competitive desire to succeed and to win, having played the sport for most of his adolescence and all of his young adulthood - yet there's a lingering question about his willingness to be out there at all costs even though he's already sacrificed what for you and I would be considered a "normal" life?

Let's not lose our minds here. Hence, the Silly Season.

When the team is away, idle minds will always play. We fill the void with whatever pops into our heads. But it's when we create these concocted, preconceived notions as to how something or someone should look or behave, that we often set ourselves up for disappointment.

Maybe the best way to look at discussions like these, is to simply say if these are our only real problems, we don't really have much to discuss in the first place, do we?

Brissett's big chance?

Much of the last OTA session the media was invited to observe focused on the extra reps in practice Jacoby Brissett took in place of Garoppolo's extra time on the exercise bike. Which is fine, of course. Especially fine for Brissett.