Some of the circumstances that surrounded Jimmy Garoppolo signing with the Las Vegas Raiders were a bit outside the norm. For example, the veteran quarterback’s introductory presser was, at the last minute, postponed a full day. At the time, no reason was given for this delay.
But it has since been revealed that the delay was due to an issue with Garoppolo’s physical, specifically a foot injury he suffered with the San Francisco 49ers. At the time of his injury, it was deemed that surgery was unnecessary and that the foot would heal on its own with about a two-month timeline.
After agreeing to the deal with the Raiders, their doctors determined that the injury actually did require surgery, which Garoppolo reportedly underwent after signing with the team, according to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic:
While McDaniels declined to discuss specifics, team and league sources said Garoppolo had surgery in March after signing with the Raiders. His recovery timeline from that procedure is unknown, although McDaniels acknowledged he “could be” out until at least training camp.
A surprise foot surgery is certainly something that could be a cause for concern moving forward. But the Raiders clearly felt that the recovery process would be smooth and quick enough that his contract could still be signed.
In fact, there is confidence that Garoppolo may not even miss regular season time.
“We don’t play a game for 100 days,” McDaniels said Thursday. “Everything that’s happened since we signed Jimmy, we knew ahead of time. … Certainly had an awareness of all of it. Our preference is not to push it and rush anybody back at this point in time.”
With this revelation, some of the odd circumstances around Garoppolo’s signing are starting to make sense. And their confidence that he would make a full recovery for the regular season is why they went through with the contract signing after the physical.
As for this season, it may take Garoppolo some time to get into the swing of the Raiders offense now that it’s known he’ll be unavailable for training camp and potentially the entire preseason.
Rob Gronkowski calls Garoppolo a great fit
Garoppolo is still widely seen as a strong fit with the Raiders system. One former player who firmly believes this is Rob Gronkowski.
“100 percent, I think it’s a great fit. Especially for the money that they got him. It’s not like they’re paying him top dollar. So then, you can put the product around him, like Davante Adams, and they brought in the tight end Michael Mayer from Notre Dame with the second-round pick. I think he’s a great addition to that offense as well. And then they got the running back as well.
“So they just need a quarterback, I would say, who knows how to run the system. They don’t need a first-team All-Pro quarterback, they just need a guy who knows how to operate. And that’s what Jimmy G can do. He knows how to operate, he’ll get the ball down the field, and he’ll do what the coaches tell him to do. So he’s going to also place the ball in the hands of Davante Adams as much as possible. So I think it’s a good fit, especially for the money that they got him for compared to what these other quarterbacks are getting paid.”
