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The Las Vegas Raiders saw the two quarterbacks who started games for them last season depart for new opportunities over the last few months. Derek Carr is now in the NFC South, as the new starting quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. Jarrett Stidham, who started the final two games of the season, is now a backup behind Russell Wilson at Denver.
Instead, the Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo, whose final season with the San Francisco 49ers was cut short by a broken leg. Now, there are concerns about its availability for at least boot camp, if not longer.
According to a new report from Athletics, Garoppolo’s injury ultimately required surgery, and his recovery schedule has been described as “unknown”. Initially, doctors believed that Garoppolo’s injury was not Lisfranc’s and therefore did not require surgical intervention.
However, according to reports from Athletics, during the Raiders’ free agency process discovered during Garoppolo’s physical exam that his leg really needed surgery. Furthermore, the procedure is carried out after the quarterback signs a contract with Las Vegas.
A report from Las Vegas Journal-Review indicating that Garoppolo may be out until training camp.
Raiders coach Josh McDaniels discussed Garoppolo’s status on Thursday.
“He’s going through the process as we know it,” said the head coach. “Nothing that happened would surprise us based on the information we have.”
“We haven’t played a game in 100 days,” added McDaniels. “Everything that happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew beforehand. … Definitely have an awareness of all that. Our preference is not to push it and urge anyone to come back at this point.”
While the organization may appear confident that Garoppolo will be ready for the season, his injury history – coupled with his remaining quarterback quarters – may raise concerns. The Raiders were one team the quarterback was repeatedly linked with during the pre-draft process, given the fact that Las Vegas had the seventh pick overall. However, the Raiders passed on the quarterback early in the draft, waiting until the fourth round when they added Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell.
The team also added veteran Brian Hoyer as a free agent, who started one game for the New England Patriots last season. Hoyer suffered a head injury early in the game against the Green Bay Packers, giving way to rookie Bailey Zappe.
