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 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 Garoppolo had left the stadium but stated he had no new information regarding his health.
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 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.
By completing 14 of 22 passes for 162 yards and a 12-yard touchdown strike to Jakobi Meyers, 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.
Garoppolo sustained an injury during the Raiders’ final possession of the half, but he continued to play despite clearly feeling discomfort.
Garoppolo’s absence from the game was not known to Raiders edge rusher Maxx Crosby until the start of the second half.
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 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.
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.
McDaniels gave his opinion on the quarterback position.
