Las Vegas Raiders to Play Without Injured Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo Against Chicago Bears
Jimmy Garoppolo, the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders, will be sidelined this weekend. CBS Sports Lead NFL Insider Jonathan Jones has confirmed reports that Garoppolo has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears due to a back injury he sustained last week.
Garoppolo was taken to the hospital after suffering the injury late in the second quarter against the New England Patriots. However, head coach Josh McDaniels mentioned earlier this week that the quarterback had “dodged a big bullet” with the injury. McDaniels did acknowledge that Garoppolo’s status for Week 7 was uncertain but expressed optimism regarding his prognosis.
Nonetheless, it now appears that Garoppolo will miss his second start of the season. He previously sat out the team’s Week 4 loss against the division rival Los Angeles Chargers due to a concussion. In that game, rookie Aidan O’Connell filled in for Garoppolo, completing 24 of 39 passes for 238 yards and an interception.
O’Connell has been inactive for the other five games this season, with veteran Brian Hoyer serving as Garoppolo’s backup. Hoyer took over for Garoppolo last week against New England and went 6 of 10 for 102 yards. The team has not yet announced which of the two players will start against the Chicago Bears.
Garoppolo missed a significant portion of the summer and part of training camp due to a foot injury that required surgery earlier in the year. Nevertheless, he started the season as Las Vegas’ unquestioned starter. So far, he has completed 68% of his passes at an average of 7.3 yards per attempt but has thrown seven touchdown passes against a league-high eight interceptions.
