One of the biggest criticisms about Jimmy Garoppolo has been his availability. The quarterback wins football games but has been available for an entire season just once in his career—in 2019.
Garoppolo's latest injury occurred on December 4 while with the San Francisco 49ers. The veteran left a regular-season game against the Miami Dolphins with a foot injury. It was later revealed that he suffered a broken foot and would miss significant time. However, it wasn't believed to require surgery.
That led to the emergence of Brock Purdy, the seventh-round draft pick that took the NFL by storm. He led the 49ers to the NFC Championship Game before suffering an injury himself.
Garoppolo remained on the 49ers' 53-man roster through all that. The 49ers hoped the quarterback might be available (as Purdy's backup) had the team reached the Super Bowl. Garoppolo remained inactive through the NFC Championship Game but was believed to be close to healthy enough to suit up.
The 49ers opted not to re-sign Garoppolo, allowing him to become a free agent. The quarterback signed with the Las Vegas Raiders in March. According to Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic, the Raiders discovered that Garoppolo's foot required surgery during the physical before officially signing.
The procedure occurred sometime in March, after Garoppolo's introductory press conference. The Raiders kicked off organized team activities (OTAs) this week, and their starting quarterback did not participate.
"His recovery timeline from that procedure is unknown, although McDaniels acknowledged he 'could be' out until at least training camp," wrote Reed and Tafur.
Said head coach Josh McDaniels: "He's going through his process just like we knew he would. Nothing has happened that would surprise us based on the information we had."
The Raiders are being cautious with Garoppolo, hoping to have him ready for the ramp-up toward the regular season.
"We don't play a game for 100 days," McDaniels said. "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."
