Recently, it was revealed that newly-signed Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo nearly failed his physical and required foot surgery after the deal was completed. Josh McDaniels and the Raiders, believing in Garoppolo, went through with the signing anyway.
Garoppolo’s status for the start of the season is unclear, as he’ll spend most, if not all, of the offseason, rehabbing his injured foot and should assume the starting role when he is healthy enough to do so. And while there may be concern among fans, there is no outward concern internally.
McDaniels spoke about Garoppolo’s injury and why he doesn’t feel concerned about the long-term impact on the Raiders, according to Eric Edholm of NFL.com:
“I have no anxiety,” McDaniels told reporters on Thursday. “You guys might have anxiety. I don’t have any anxiety.
“I’m not going to put a timeline or a day on anything, but like I said, I have no anxiety. Feel pretty good about it.”
“This is football. There (are) definitely going to be players that miss time,” McDaniels said. “Josh Jacobs wasn’t able to do a whole lot last year either, and (he had a) decent year. I don’t want to overstate any of that stuff. The relationships, the trust, the communication, the rapport, all that stuff is huge.”
Asked why he’s not anxious on the matter, McDaniels said, smiling: “I don’t worry about the things I can’t control. So like I said, I have very good information that would tell me we’re going to be fine. So again, nothing has happened that would’ve changed that.”
McDaniels reiterated that Garoppolo’s likely unavailable status for offseason workouts is not a concern, given that players are rarely affected by this.
“I don’t want to overstate or understate the importance of OTAs or anything like that,” McDaniels said. “It’s an important time of the year. But there’s also a lot of players that can’t participate in it or … players that aren’t participating in it across the league. So that doesn’t mean this year’s going to be bad for (Garoppolo) and not good for him and all the rest of it.
“So like I said, I have no anxiety about it. I’m excited that he’s here. I’m really excited that he’s here and looking forward to it.”
The Raiders are going to closely monitor Garoppolo’s situation and hope that he is available for the team’s Week 1 matchup in Denver against the Broncos on Sept. 10.
Injury clause added to contract
Perhaps part of the reason for the lack of anxiety on McDaniels part is the addendum that was added to Garoppolo’s contract in order to keep him from failing his physical. The addendum allows the Raiders to move away from his contract entirely — without any obligation — if the foot injury is deemed too significant by the start of the season.
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