Raiders Jimmy Garoppolo
Los Angeles After the Las Vegas Raiders defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 on Sunday, more than an hour later, Jimmy Garoppolo‘s locker was still stuffed with his personal belongings.
The Raiders quarterback was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after the first half to be examined for what was reportedly a back injury.
Even so, his influence was felt strongly in the locker room after the Raiders’ second straight victory brought their record up to 3-3. The seasoned backup quarterback with 15 years of experience, Brian Hoyer, took over for Jimmy Garoppolo in the second half, guided the team to win, and prepared Las Vegas to go to face the Chicago Bears (1-5) later.
Josh McDaniels, the Raiders’ head coach, acknowledged that Jimmy Garoppolo had left the stadium but stated he had no new information regarding his health.
“They’re just doing tests,” McDaniels stated, “and just making sure they take care of all that stuff.”
Adam Schefter of ESPN was informed by a source that “precautionary tests” had in fact been performed to “err on the side of caution.”
While rookie Aidan O’Connell started the Raiders’ defeat at the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4 while Jimmy Garoppolo was sidelined with a concussion, Hoyer did a good job of moving the Raiders’ offense along, completing 6 of 10 passes for 102 yards, including a 48-yard deep ball to rookie Tre Tucker for the Raiders’ longest play from scrimmage this season.
There are many unanswered questions, and McDaniels was not prepared to name a quarterback for the next week.
“There’s a lot of balls up in the air right now relative to Jimmy and that whole situation, and we’ll just see — have a little patience here for ourselves, and see what the report is going to be,” McDaniels stated. Like everyone else, I certainly have high hopes.
“We’ll find out more and then, obviously, try to make the best decision we can for the team.”
By completing 14 of 22 passes for 162 yards and a 12-yard touchdown strike to Jakobi Meyers, Jimmy Garoppolo guided the Raiders to a 13-3 halftime lead. However, he was also intercepted for the seventh time this year on a pass that deflected off Davante Adams after the latter took a strong hit from a slant pass.
Jimmy Garoppolo sustained an injury during the Raiders’ final possession of the half, but he continued to play despite clearly feeling discomfort.
“It’s sad whenever you see, especially a leader in the locker room, get hurt or go through injuries, but it’s also part of the game, man,” said Raiders running back Josh Jacobs after gaining a season-high 77 yards on 25 carries.
We’re hoping and praying for him to return as quickly as possible. But we’re hoping the following individual is also prepared to step up.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s absence from the game was not known to Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby until the start of the second half.
With less than two minutes left, Crosby and defensive tackle Bilal Nichols shared the game-ending sack for a safety. “For us, as a defense, we talk about it, but we want to be the reason we win the game — and no matter what, obviously, Jimmy’s our brother,” Crosby said. “You’ve got to go out there and go win. We’re praying for him, so hopefully everything is okay. So that’s all there is to it. We are enthusiastic about it since we went there and did that.
But Hoyer, who played for New England for his previous three seasons, is the reason the Raiders were able to pull it off.
Even though he wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms by Raiders supporters at Allegiant Stadium.
Hoyer’s fans’ booing was “kind of crazy,” according to Jacobs, who also claimed, “to hear them s— him and stuff.” But he went outside and bombed them to silence them.
“Man, I thought he performed well. He is undoubtedly a seasoned quarterback. He came in and seemed to play very composed considering how well-versed he is in this system.
Hoyer claimed that he had to play catch-up since he hadn’t even received a snap from center Andre James in three weeks.
It also helped to play against the group for which he was first signed in 2009 and for whom he has spent portions of eight seasons, particularly on the long throw to Tucker.
“Having been there,” Hoyer said, “I know a lot of times on third downs they want to take away your best players, and for us, that would be Davante and Jakobi.” And that was something we paid close attention to.
Hoyer claimed that after spotting the coverage and having faith in Tucker, he released the deep ball.
Hoyer claimed that the way the Raiders’ defense was performing provided him the assurance that he didn’t need to force any plays.
You must always be prepared, Hoyer added. “Nothing is certain.
My fifteenth year. I’ve pretty much witnessed every circumstance, and ultimately, football is what it all comes down to. Whatever the circumstance, it’s evident that I’ve been a part of this offense for a while.
McDaniels gave his opinion on the quarterback position.
In general, he added, “I certainly want for a healthy quarterback room, and I definitely thought Jimmy was doing some excellent things before he got twisted or whacked.
“So, we’ll just patiently see what this is going to be, and we’ll make the best decision we can.”
