Getty Jimmy Garoppolo, when he was with the San Francisco 49ers.
The Jimmy Garoppolo era for the Las Vegas Raiders has had its first setback — as the result of injury from his San Francisco 49ers days that’s carried over to Sin City.
Garoppolo is sitting out the Raiders’ organized training activities as he recovers from foot surgery in March, according to a May 25 tweet from The Athletic’s Tashan Reed. Garoppolo injured his foot in the 49ers’ December 6 game against the Miami Dolphins.
“The quarterback’s recovery timeline is unknown, but the sense is that the team is confident he’ll be ready to play by the start of the regular season,” Reed wrote. Garoppolo, 31, signed a three-year deal with the Raiders in March worth $48.5 million.
Is Jimmy Garoppolo’s New Team Already Concerned?
Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels appeared to be optimistic about Garoppolo’s recovery.
“We don’t play a game for 100 days,” McDaniels told reporters on May 25/a>. “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.”
Bleacher Report’s Doric Sam reported in December that the recovery period for the kind of foot surgery that Garoppolo had is three months, putting his potential return date sometime in June. The Raiders’ mandatory minicamp runs June 6-8.
His foot injury was the third season-ending injury of his stint with the 49ers. He also had dealt with a torn ACL, and he underwent surgery on his shoulder during the 2022 offseason.
According to Pro Football Reference, Garoppolo ended up not finishing five of his six seasons with the 49ers. His lone non-injury season was the 2019 NFC title run, when he put up career-best numbers across the board. Garoppolo missed 31 total games with the 49ers.
Fans on Social Media Sound Off
Though McDaniels did not appear concerned about Garoppolo’s recovery, some Raiders fans on Twitter did not share his optimism.
“Oh boy…let’s see how this plays out. It’s very very early, but this guy has an injury history that’s undeniable,” one fan said, replying to Reed’s tweet.
Another fan gave a stronger take.
“McDaniels might as well resign now,” the fan said.
The Athletic’s David Lombardi, who covers the 49ers, also chimed in.
“So much for that false report that Jimmy Garoppolo was healthy enough to play in the NFC title game…clearly not possible, since he had to have foot surgery in March,” Lombardi said.
Sterling Bennett of 95.7 FM The Game also gave his criticism for the Raiders bringing him on board.
“The disconnect between the 49ers and Jimmy Garoppolo’s health status is one of the craziest things I’ve seen between an organization and their ‘franchise QB.’ Three straight seasons of varying beliefs on injuries/recovery time and now it’s happening again with the Raiders. How?” Bennett asked.
As for Garoppolo’s former team, Brock Purdy, who replaced Garoppolo to close out the 49ers’ season, could be throwing the ball sooner than expected, according to Matt Barrows of The Athletic on Tuesday, May 23. Trey Lance, who also missed the entire 2022 season with a broken ankle in Week 2, was also on the field during OTAs.