FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick acknowledged on Wednesday that Jimmy Garoppolo will have to start the first four games of the season at quarterback and said the top priority of training camp would be to get the former backup ready.We have finally some definition with Toms situation, Belichick said of Tom Brady before declining to comment further on the Deflategate scandal that engulfed the NFL and one of its most successful franchises for 18 months.Tom will return as the starting quarterback when he comes back, but in the meantime we have to prioritize the first part of our schedule and thatll be to get Jimmy ready to go.Brady was suspended four games and the team was docked $1 million and two draft picks for what the league said was a scheme to illegally deflate the footballs used in the 2015 AFC championship game.The four-time Super Bowl champion was supposed to sit out the first four games last season, but appeals dragged it out through this summer.The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Brady this month, and the quarterback said he would not pursue an unlikely appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. Belichick said he didnt change what he was doing to track the ups and downs of the saga.Really I never dealt with it until I would say the decision has been made that looks like, `This is what its going to be, he said.Its been in some version of litigation, appeal, appeal depending on how the litigation goes. Its been in the same place for a year and a half, basically. Theres definition to it now. Well move forward based on that definition.Moving forward means that Garoppolo will need to start against Arizona on Sept. 11, and then again against the Dolphins, Texans and Bills. Belichick refused to say how he would split up the reps in practice so that both Brady and Garoppolo can get the needed work in.Well find out, he said.Brady is allowed to practice with the team during training camp and play in any preseason games. During the suspension, he will not be allowed any contact with team officials or to work out with teammates.Special teams captain Matthew Slater said having Brady around during camp will be helpful.Were definitely thankful that hes around now, and I think he brings so much to the table, he said. Theres so much that we can learn from having him around.Safety Devin McCourty said Bradys absence wont change how the team plays defense.Even when you play with the greatest quarterback, we dont go out there saying, `We only have to play OK because Tom is here, McCourty said.As a defense, we want to be a dominating defense no matter what the situation is and no matter who is out there on offense. We always kind of take the mentality and attitude that we have to go out there and play defense no matter if the offense is scoring touchdowns.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Discount NCAA Jerseys . 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"I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. The 10 schools that make up the Big 12 are bound together by a deal committing their television rights to the conference through the 2024-25 school year.That grant of rights ends with the expiration of the conferences $2.6 billion television contract with Fox and ESPN. The question hanging over the Big 12 has always been: When that TV deal runs out, will the conference end, too? Will Texas and Oklahoma, the conferences flagship programs, remain satisfied with being the Big 12s big dogs, or will they seek potentially sweeter deals elsewhere.Expansion wasnt going to change that, so the Big 12 declined on Monday to add two schools from a group of 11 that included BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and Connecticut. The conferences leaders then tried their best to put forth a unified front and positive outlook for the future.No ones looking to walk away from this conference, said Oklahoma President David Boren, the chairman of the Big 12s board of directors. Any feelings to the contrary is just mistaken. They dont understand the strong commitment that we all have to it.Claiming commitment is nice. A legally binding contract is better, but until the Big 12 starts negotiating another television deal or a revision to the current one, locking up the conference beyond 2025 is not a discussion that is taking place, Boren said.When the appropriate proposal is on the table, well be able to go to the open market at the appropriate time and I think negotiate very successfully, Boren said. I think the product of that will be cooperation from all of our schools.The Big 12 still has much to figure out in the near- and long-term.First up, the 10-team conference with a nine-game round-robin schedule must decide how to best implement a football championship game, which returns in 2017. Almost all available solutions are square-peg, round-hole conundrums, but the conference thinks it needs the game to better its chances at the College Football Playoff and raise more revenue.The addition of the conference title game gives the Big 12 an opportunity to open discussions with Fox and ESPN and increase the annual payout from the networks by about $25 million per year.Boren and Commissioner Bob Bowlsby declined to address reports that ESPN and Fox are willing to consider extending the rights contract and buyout a clause that called for a large increase in rights fees if the conference expands.A Big 12 cable network is not on the horizon. As Boren said, the market has spoken and it has said no. But cable is not what it used to be and having a network does not necessarily mean putting games on television.I still wish and hope someday, who knows which form of technology it will take, we will perhaps someday have a branded conference network of some kind, Boren said.The Big 112 paid out $30.dddddddddddd2 million to each of its members this year, a record amount and third most among Power Five conferences. Still, long-term projections have the Big Ten and Southeastern Conference pulling away in the revenue race from the Big 12, Pac-12 and Atlantic Coast Conference in the coming years.Bowlsby said figuring new ways to generate more is one of the conferences top priorities.But I dont know that theres anybody thats demonstrated a direct correlation between the amount of money spent and the number of championships that you win, Bowlsby said. I guess it would be fair to say that wed not like to get 10 or 15 years henceforth and find out if there was a delta, there isnt any way we could fix it and it would make a difference in how competitive we were. But we reside in very fertile recruiting grounds. We have great coaches. We have great venues and great traditions. I think were always going to be concerned about revenue.Revenue is not necessarily a problem for Texas or Oklahoma. According to USA Today, Texas brought in more than $183 million last year, second most in FBS among public schools. Oklahoma was eighth at $134 million.Texas and its Longhorn Network have been a source of tension in the Big 12 and helped drive some schools away. Despite the Longhorns recent struggles on the football field, there is not a conference in the country that would not open their doors to Texas. The Pac-12 already tried to lure the Longhorns away unsuccessfully once. Texas is one of the few schools that could probably make football independence work in the way Notre Dame does.I look forward to working with Commissioner Bowlsby, chairman Boren and the other conference members to make the Big 12 even stronger in the years to come, Texas President Greg Fenves said in a statement.Oklahoma doesnt quite have Texas star power, but the Sooners would not have much problem finding a home, either. Sooners fans have made it known they are ready for a change and it was Boren that helped make the Big 12 seem unstable by pushing the need for expansion.On Monday, though, it was Boren touting the Big 12s unity and unanimity when it came to not expanding. ESPN reported Tuesday that those were agreed upon talking points.I think we all left the room feeling a much stronger sense of commitment to the conference, commitment to each other, that all of us are Big 12 people, were proud to be part of this conference, and we want to always be a member of this conference as far as were concerned, Boren said. We want to see it be all it can be.At least for eight more years.---Follow Ralph D. 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