Raiders vs. Rams Joint Practice No. 2: QB Jimmy Garoppolo

THOUSAND OAKS, Cal.--The Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of the fourth week of the 2023 National Football League Training Camp, and today QB Jimmy Garoppolo addressed the media.

We have all of his comments for you to watch below, as well as the entire transcript for you to read:

Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo

Q: Catch or not a catch at the end?

Garoppolo: "Catch. We've got video footage too. We just needed a red flag to be thrown. But yeah, it was fun. A lot of competing out there, going against these guys a lot. So, it was a lot of fun these last couple of days."

Q: You didn't play football for so long, you're still going to take time to get in the timing. I saw a couple of long balls that you overthrew a couple guys. And I mean, that's just timing, isn't it?

Garoppolo: "Yeah. I mean, that's why we're out here. I mean, it's practice. So, you want to try different things. Game time comes, it's a lot different. When the bullets are flying, you know what you want to do, you know who you want to go to. But out here, you can try different things, and it's always nice to mix it up. Try and mix in the deep ball here and there and see what the guys could do."

Q: It seemed like you and Hunter Renfrow, in particular, had it going early in 7-on-7 red zone drills. I think he had three touchdowns from you. How have you worked on chemistry with him so far?

Garoppolo: "'Hunt [Hunter Renfrow] has been awesome man. He sees the field very well, makes it easy on me, very decisive in his routes. But all those guys, I mean him, 'DC' [Carter], tight ends even that work the slot, all those guys have been doing a good job. They give me easy targets, so it makes my job a lot easier."

Q: Now that you've gone through the joint process with the Niners and now the Rams, how would you assess where you're at health wise as we get ready for week one?

Garoppolo: "Getting better every day, honestly. Just one of those things that you try to stack the days together. Not everything's going to be perfect, it's training camp. Going into year 10, I've figured that out, and it's just part of the game, I guess. You try to be perfect out here, we're all trying to be perfect. But things are going to happen, and we've just got to keep learning and keep growing as a team right now. I think that's the biggest thing."

Q: I know you're always getting prepared to play and want to play. But do you think it's important to get out there at all during the preseason? Maybe you and some of the starters at all, or is it not important?

Garoppolo: "I mean, it's always good to play. I mean, knock some of the rust off and everything like that. We went through the warmups last week. So, I think in the next couple of days, we'll find out what we're doing come Saturday. Josh will give us an answer for that. But yeah, we're always ready to roll, so we'll see what happens."

Q: Whenever you're lining up against No. 99, and I know you've done that quite often -- even in our practice setting, is that somebody that you just have to kind of be aware of?

Garoppolo: "Always, always. AD [Aaron Donald], he's a special talent, man. I mean, going against him twice a year these last couple of years, I've seen it first-hand. So, we had to plan for him. The dude is allworld man, he really is. He doesn't get enough credit for it, I think, but hell of a player."

Q: Is it more difficult dealing with him in this setting than in an actual game?

Garoppolo: "I've got a red jersey on out here, so it's a little different out here. When the real game comes, obviously you've got to account for him. But it's a good challenge for us, it changes things up. It was different from San Francisco last week. We didn't have to do that so much. So, that's how the NFL goes. One week is different than the next, and you've just got to be able to adjust on the fly and roll with it."

Q: Tre Tucker, what are some things that you like about him? What is some advice that you've been able to give him through the process?

Garoppolo: "I mean, he's explosive, he's strong. I saw in the game last week, that he's got that dog in him. He's willing to fight for that ball, and for a rookie to come in and have that, that's pretty rare. But he's nowhere near perfect, he's got room to grow. And it's just about when you're a rookie, you've just got to keep going, man. You can't ever think that you have it figured out at any point in your career, but especially as a rookie. You can't relax, you've just got to keep going. It's a long year, but he's built the right way, and mentally, I think he's ready for it."

Q: But there's so many smiles from you these last couple of days. Is it back being fun again? Now that you know the offense a little bit, are you having fun? Am I reading you right?

Garoppolo: "I always have fun out here. I mean it's football, man. Obviously, it's a professional game, you've got to take it as take it as job, but you've got to have fun out here. This is a game that you grew up playing. This is where you wanted to be, and you've just got to enjoy the moment man, that's what I'm trying to do."

Q: With there being two teams you are doing joint practices against in consecutive weeks, it's a lot more work for you are you a lot less reliant on preseason action in a game?

Garoppolo: "I really enjoy these joint practices, honestly. It's a nice change up from banging heads against the same guys every day, gives you a new look on defense, new coverages, new fronts up front. And you've really just got put the puzzle together. I mean that's the fun part of being a quarterback in this system. You've got to put the pieces together, get the guys all on the same page and go from there. So, I thought we've been doing a good job of that. We've got room to grow though as an offense, just keep growing."

Q: After these last two practices, what are your biggest takeaways for what do you have to work on as an offense?

Garoppolo: "I think just getting closer as a group. There's some new guys this year, obviously some of these guys are returning from last year. But I'm big on the group atmosphere away from the field. How do you bond together? How do you talk to each other? I think those little things add up, and that gives you a better chance to win on Sundays. So, I think we've done a lot of that this offseason and training camp, but there's always room to improve on that. And so, we're always trying to do that stuff."

The Silver and Black return to preseason action when they play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT.

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