Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will not be participating in the team’s OTA practices this week as he continues to recover from the left foot injury he suffered late last season, coach Josh McDaniels said Thursday. While McDaniels declined to discuss details, team and league sources said Garoppolo had surgery in March after signing with the Raiders. His recovery timeline from that procedure is unknown, though McDaniels acknowledged he “could be” until at least training camp.
“He’s going through his process like we knew he would,” McDaniels said Thursday. “Nothing happened that would surprise us based on the information we had.”
Here’s what you need to know:
- Garoppolo initially suffered a left foot injury on December 6, 2022 while playing for the 49ers. San Francisco feared he had suffered a Lisfranc fracture — which required surgery — but the doctors on the 49ers team concluded it was a different type of fracture that did not require surgery and had a recovery time of about two months.
- On that basis, Garoppolo — who had pushed for a possible return if the 49ers reached the Super Bowl — should have been completely healthy by the time he reached an agreement with the Raiders on March 13. The first indication that something was off came when Garoppolo arrived on March 16 at team headquarters in Henderson, Nevada, to sign his contract, but left the facility without doing so.
- When Garoppolo signed and held his introductory press conference a day later, he did not reveal the reason behind the postponement or provide a clear update on the status of his foot injury. But according to a league source, during Garoppolo’s physical examination, the Raiders found that his foot did indeed require surgery and the procedure was performed after his introduction.
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The athletic‘s direct analysis:
What is the level of care?
The feeling is that the Raiders are not worried about Garoppolo being ready for the start of the regular season in September.
“We don’t play a game for 100 days,” McDaniels said on Thursday. “Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew in advance. … Definitely had a sense of it. Our preference is not to rush anyone back at this point.”
But given Garoppolo’s history, the onset of injury remains a concern.
Since becoming a starter after being traded from the Patriots to the 49ers in 2017, Garoppolo has missed 31 regular season games and suffered three season injuries. The Raiders had that context and still felt comfortable enough to give him a $72.75 million three-year contract with $33.75 million in total guarantees, but now he’ll be missing time again before even a moment played for them. That further delays his chance to build chemistry with star receiver Davante Adams and the rest of the team’s assault weapons.
Even if he’s ready to go in time for Week 1, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll last all season. The Raiders see Brian Hoyer as a viable backup and believe in Aidan O’Connell’s long-term win given that they traded him in the fourth round to draft him last month, but it’s unlikely that either player will be in comes close to that of Garoppolo. expected production this season. If Garoppolo’s injury problems continue, the Raiders offense will be in bad shape.
Backstory
When asked during his introduction if he feared the Raiders deal would fall through, Garoppolo said there were “no worries” and called the process “very collaborative”.
Garoppolo said his goal is to “bring the Silver and Black back to where it should be.”
The veteran, who was asked if he expected to become Las Vegas’ “long-term” starter, said he “comes in with the mindset that (he) has to earn it all.” He added, “I don’t want a ‘you’re the franchise man’ or whatever. I want to come in and earn it.
Asked if he had anything to prove in his career, Garoppolo replied: “Hell yeah. I’m trying to win a Super Bowl. I know every player says that when they come to their first press conference, but that’s my goal.”
Required reading
(Photo: Candice Ward/USA Today)