Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo remained in the concussion protocol Wednesday, though his coach is hopeful he’ll be able to play in Week 4.
Garoppolo has been participating in meetings but is not expected to practice Wednesday. Garoppolo’s backups are 15-year veteran Brian Hoyer and rookie Aidan O’Connell.
“But we’ll give the guys reps in practice — they usually get reps anyway, to some degree. It’ll be a little bit more, obviously, if Jimmy’s not out there today. So, we’ll just take it one day at a time, do the best we can and then we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels told reporters.
Garoppolo was sacked four times but played every snap in Sunday night’s 23-18 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. It is unclear when the injury occurred to Garoppolo, who was never checked during the game and finished with 324 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. A postgame evaluation discovered the concussion.
“We’ll see how Jimmy progresses through the week. … It’s moving. We’ll see how fast it goes,” McDaniels added.
Garoppolo, 31, who signed a three-year, $67.5 million deal in the offseason, has thrown for 709 yards, five TDs and six picks in three starts for Las Vegas (1-2).
Hoyer, 37, has a 16-24 record across 15 seasons with eight NFL teams but hasn’t won a game since October 2016.
O’Connell, a fourth-round pick from Purdue, played well in the preseason and could push Hoyer for the starting spot if Garoppolo can’t go against the host Los Angeles Chargers (1-2) on Sunday.
–Field Level Media