Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said on Thursday that quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo may be sidelined until the start of training camp and now there’s more information on why.
Garoppolo had foot surgery in March after signing with Las Vegas, according to a report from TheAthletic.com.
The Raiders signed Garoppolo to a three-year deal at the start of free agency after the quarterback had suffered a season-ending broken foot with the 49ers in December. Garoppolo did not have surgery on his foot then because 49ers doctors concluded that he did not need it, feeling the quarterback should be OK after a two-month recovery period. But according to the report, the Raiders concluded when Garoppolo underwent his physical with the club in March that the QB did need surgery.
That may have been why Garoppolo’s deal was initially delayed after he visited the facility a couple of months ago.
Garoppolo had the surgery after his introductory press conference.
McDaniels did not seem concerned about Garoppolo’s availability for the season when speaking at his Thursday press conference.
“He’s going through his process just like we knew he would,” McDaniels said. “Nothing has happened that would surprise us based on the information we had.”
McDaniels added that “it could be” training camp before Garoppolo gets on the field.
“We’re always going to air at this time of the year on being smart,” McDaniels said. “We don’t play a football game, like I said, until three and a half months.”
Garoppolo has a long history of injuries, effectively been through just two full healthy seasons. He started all 16 games for the 2019 49ers, as the club went to the Super Bowl. He then started 15 games for San Francisco in 2021, with quarterback Trey Lance starting a pair of games due to a Garoppolo injury. But Garoppolo still led the club to the NFC Championship Game.
The Raiders have Brian Hoyer, Chase Garbers, and rookie Aidan O’Connell on their roster to handle QB duties through the offseason program.