Remember when Jimmy Garoppolo was the Raiders' QB? No, it happened. He was there. Maybe "only winning three games" or "getting benched" or "testing positive for a banned substance and earning a multi-game suspense" rings a bell?
Our favorite six-game QB Jimmy G, now in Los Angeles as the Rams' backup, has once again found himself in the news talking about the Raiders. Or, at least, we presume it's the Raiders – it's entirely possible the recent interview he did with The Athletic ($) about how much happier he is now than with former teams could be about the Patriots or 49ers. Surely the fact that Jimmy G is "smiling again" and no longer struggling with "the spotlight of a the starter" has nothing to do with the only team where he was the undisputed starter. You'll love these quotes!
It sure doens't sound like Jimmy G misses the Raiders that much
"This place allows you to be yourself, too, which is different than other places I've been," he said. "You're getting pressed with a sense of urgency but in a good way. Obviously, everyone wants to win. Everyone wants to perform well. They do it in the right way here. They push you positively. There's just a lot of good things going on, man. I'm enjoying every bit of it. Even the meetings are a good time. Everything is going good right now."
It's amazing how often players on their third or fourth team always end up finding organizations that "win the right way." And I'd argue that the [checks notes] San Francisco 49ers and [checks notes again] New England Patriots figured out the right way to win, but whatever.
In his defense, he had to take orders from Josh McDaniels, so he's probably not wrong about any of this. The Raiders were extremely not doing anything in the right way when McDaniels was the head coach, so you can imagine that Jimmy G is finally enjoying the first good vibes of his career.
Come to think of it, maybe I'm being too harsh: he's only ever been coached by McDaniels, Kyle Shanahan, and Bill Belichick, so he's probably not used to having a coach who wants him around or knows how to smile. Maybe he deserves a vacation, which is great because that's exactly what being Matt Stafford's backup in LA is.