Getty Las Vegas Raiders RB Josh Jacobs.
The Las Vegas Raiders came away with a 21-17 win over the New England Patriots in Week 6 but it wasn’t pretty. At the end of the first half, starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo hurt his back and was forced to leave the game.
Brian Hoyer entered the game in relief over rookie Aidan O’Connell, who had started in Week 4 for an injury Garoppolo, but was inactive for the game and only would’ve been able to play if Hoyer got hurt. That didn’t stop fans from booing the veteran quarterback as they wanted to see the rookie.
Hoyer did enough to lead the Raiders to a win over his former team and running back Josh Jacobs called out the fans who booed him.
“To hear the fans boo him and s*** was kind of crazy,” Jacobs said in his October 15 postgame media availability. “But he came out there and bombed ’em and shut them up. … I think he played good, man.”
It remains to be seen who will be the starting quarterback going forward if Garoppolo has to miss extended time but Hoyer showed that he can do enough to hold onto a lead. That said, O’Connell has a lot more upside so it could be a tough decision for head coach Josh McDaniels.
“To hear the fans boo him and s**t was crazy….he came out there and bombed em’ and shut em’ up though.”
Josh Jacobs praises veteran QB Brian Hoyer after coming in and sealing a win for the Raiders in the second half.
🎥: By @Sean_Zittel, Vegas Sports Today
Brian Hoyer Discusses Coming Into Game
Brian Hoyer hasn’t played much in recent years and only saw brief action once earlier this season. The fact that Aidan O’Connell started for an injury Jimmy Garoppolo shows that the Raiders prefer not to have Hoyer play a lot of snaps.
That said, he’s been in the NFL for a long time and was prepared to play against the Patriots.
“I’ve pretty much seen all the situations and really what it comes down to is playing football,” Hoyer said in his October 15 postgame press conference. “Regardless of the situation, obviously I’ve played in this offense for a long time.
“Like I said, defense was playing great which gave me the confidence to go out there and just be making sure that I’m making good throws, making good decisions. The offensive line did an incredible job. Blocked really well, run game, pass game, and that gives you a lot of confidence too.”
Hoyer ended up completing 6-of-10 passes for 102 yards.
Brian Hoyer Talks New England Patriots
This was the perfect game for Brian Hoyer to play in due to his familiarity with the Patriots. He’s played eight seasons with the team across three separate stints, including last season.
He knew what to look for against his former team.
“Having been there for the last seven years, I know a lot of times on third down they want to take away your best players and for us that would be Davante [Adams] and Jakobi [Meyers] and that was something we were keen in on,” Hoyer said. “It’s something that I’ve seen in practice over the years a lot of times and so I was just waiting to see, were they going to do that?”
The Raiders are now 3-3 and are on a two-game winning streak. The last two wins haven’t been pretty but the team is heading in the right direction.