Last week, Jimmy Garoppolo helped lead the Las Vegas Raiders to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots. But he also suffered a back injury that forced him to leave the game via an ambulance.
Garoppolo later received more medical attention at the hospital, where we learned the Raiders QB was dealing with a back injury.
He has not been able to practice with the Raiders since. On Thursday, the Raiders officially ruled Garoppolo out for their upcoming Week 7 battle with the Chicago Bears, who also may be forced to start their backup QB.
Rookie fourth-round pick Aidan O’Connell is expected to start in place of Garoppolo, but that is not guaranteed. While O’Connell did start in the team’s Week 4 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, it was longtime veteran journeyman Brian Hoyer who replaced Garoppolo after he suffered his back injury just before halftime in last week’s contest.
For now, the Raiders are expected to continue evaluating the best option to start on Sunday, with O’Connell and Hoyer being the two candidates to lead the Las Vegas offense. Depending on how secretive the Raiders want to get, we may not hear of the team’s starter until right before kickoff, if at all.
Garoppolo’s timeline to return remains unknown.
Related: Week 7 NFL injury report: Latest updates on Trevor Lawrence, Christian McCaffrey and more