From Raiders Training Camp: QB Jimmy Garoppolo
HENDERSON, Nev.--The Las Vegas Raiders have opened their 2023 NFL Training Camp, and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took to the podium to address the media.
You can watch his entire comments below and read the transcript:
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
Q: Is this the best you've felt so far this training camp?
Garoppolo: "I think it's moving in the right direction. Obviously, the start is the start, just getting my feet under me, literally and figuratively. So, just getting used to it. I think we're starting to find our groove here, guys are playing well today, yeah."
Q: You're a competitor. Any extra competitive juices flowing today going against the 49ers your former team?
Garoppolo: "It was fun. It was fun. First play, Dre [Greenlaw] was talking, he got things going right away, but those are my brothers. I love those guys. So, we had a good time out there competing."
Q: You practiced against this defense for several years. Do they look different? Do they feel different this year?
Garoppolo: "I mean obviously some new guys here and there, but for the most part it was the same guys I was going against last year. Fred [Warner] running the show and everything, that D-line is still damn good. So, it's a talented group, but I thought we held our own today."
Q: Brock Purdy said whether you knew it or not, that he learned a lot from you in the locker room last year. Did you learn anything from him?
Garoppolo: "Yeah, Brock [Purdy] was a cool dude on and off the field. As a rookie, he was pretty quiet off the get go, but he started to open up toward the end, especially once he started playing. We got to talk it up a little bit out there today. It sounds like he was doing good."
Q: One of the things Brock Purdy mentioned specifically is he would watch you in the locker room and how you carry yourself and how you carried yourself as a leader. Does that mean maybe even a little more?
Garoppolo: "Yeah, that's cool to hear. That was kind of one thing I always take pride in, just how the guys see you, how you interact with them. You don't want to be that quarterback that's separated from the whole team and doing your own thing. I've always wanted to be one of the guys and that's kind of how I go about my business."
Q: You won the 49ers locker room quickly when you got there and your teammates both at the podium and privately have been bragging that they've bought into you What is it about you that you're able to lead men?
Garoppolo: "I don't know, just being myself. I think being authentic, be yourself and own it. I think that's a big part of it because we spend so much time together in there. I mean you spend more time with these guys then you do your own family, so the guys are going to see through the fakeness. I think just being authentic, being yourself and wanting to win at the end of the day, that's what people respect."
Q: So much has been made of the familiarity between you and Josh. Has it been that way or have there been a lot of new things that you have even learned the last two weeks despite knowing it as well as you do?
Garoppolo: "I mean this offense has evolved since I've been in it last. Obviously, the core is still the same basic stuff, but yes, it's grown and it's been cool just trying to play catch up with it, get on the same page. Having [Brian] Hoyer around, dude who's been in it a while, being able to talk to him about some of the new stuff, it's all been helpful. Josh [McDaniels] has been awesome, just the communication. He's a forward thinker, he gets in front of things and kind of plays from ahead, and I like that."
Q: Something very visible today was the connection you were able to have with Hunter Renfrow, and it's also been visible throughout camo. What do you think about him as a receiver?
Garoppolo: "Hunt [Hunter Renfrow] is a dog, man. He's made of the right stuff, especially you go out there and start competing in these team periods -- you can see it in the huddle -- you know who's got it and who doesn't in that huddle. It's cool to look around and see the guy’s eyes, they're into it and it means something to them, and Hunter is no different."
Q: Going into training camp you hadn't played or practiced since early December. Did you kind of go in expecting that there was going to be some rust that you needed to kind of shake off, and did you process going into that?
Garoppolo: "Yeah, I mean with a new injury and everything you've just got to get a feel for it. Not having OTAs was different. You try to do as much rehab and stuff as you can in the summer, but it's hard to emulate those team periods and guys trying to rush at you and things like that. So, I knew there was going to be a period of that, but we've gotten through that, and we've just got to string days together now."
Q: You seem to be wired in a way that it kind of just goes off your shoulders, good or bad. Guys have talked about you in those terms, whether it's a 60-yard pass or an interception, you're going to be the same guy. Where does that come from to be able to be that steady?
Garoppolo: "I don't know, just kind of being myself, man. You've just got to move on quickly, because things in this league -- if you dwell on things and start thinking about all the bad stuff, it's going to pile up on you and then you won't last very long. So, I think sticking around, you've got to be able to move on to the next play and make that next play your best play."
Q: What was the end of last season like through your eyes in terms of being at Philadelphia and seeing what went down then and what you were trying to get through the last two months of that season?
Garoppolo: "It was wild man. I was doing my thing trying to get my foot ready. It didn't work out how I wished it would have, but those guys, going through three quarterbacks and still making it to the NFC championship game, that's damn impressive for a team. So, I know the Niners, they've got a great team and everything, we had a great time. It's on to Vegas now. But yeah, I treasure those times. Those were good times."
Q: Was there a sense that you pushed too hard trying to get back and that you had to kind of ease off your toe at the end?
Garoppolo: “Sort of, yeah. I mean, it was my choosing. I wanted to do that because I knew if something like the championship game did happen, I wanted to be out there. Whatever, it's all in the past now. Things worked out the way they did and I'm happy with how it all worked out.”
Q: When you were in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan's offense is pretty different from what Josh McDaniels runs. How has it been kind of reprogramming your brain? And have you incorporated any of that stuff into the Raiders offense?
Garoppolo: “Yeah, it is different. Reprogramming your brain is a good way to put it. There are different ways to skin a cat, you know, so everyone has different ways of doing it. But that was part of the learning curve of coming back here, and I knew it was going to be like that. But I was excited about that; it was kind of the offense I was born into, I guess you could say in the NFL. We're trying to mix and match some of those things that I did in San Francisco. Different personnel, different things like that, obviously dictate some of that. But it's been fun, man, honestly.”
Q: What's it been like building that chemistry with Jakobi Myers?
Garoppolo: “Jakobi has been awesome, man. He had a hell of a day today, too. He came ready today. He's another one of those guys like I was saying about Hunter, you could look at his eyes and know he's made of the right stuff and he's ready to go. He’s a very impressive, big body guy who can go up and get the ball, can jump out of the gym. It's been fun.”
Q: Would you give your impressions of Dylan Parham, please?
Garoppolo: “He's very steady. He lets things roll off his shoulders as well as anybody. He’s as cool as the other side of a pillow. He's strong as hell, man. He moves people, he’s not afraid to get dirty when he needs to, and he's versatile. He can play a couple different positions, which is always impressive. I thought the O-line as a group has been playing really well. They're meshing, they're kind of finding their groove too. So, we've got some work to do, but we're getting there.”
Q: Would you describe yourself as pretty internally motivated? Because we're talking about letting stuff roll off your shoulders and it seems like we hear so often the sort of: ‘I took that personally,’ if someone moves on from a team, and it just doesn’t seem like that's you?
Garoppolo: “It's in there. I mean, everyone has different ways of dealing with stuff. Some people like to vocalize it and put it out there. Some people like to keep it in and just let their play do the talk. I don't know, there's different ways to go about it, but that's kind of how I've always been. I’m not changing.”
Q: How would you rate your chemistry with Davante Adams at this point? And how much more room does that relationship and connection have to grow?
Garoppolo: "Got a lot of room to grow. I'm getting used to him. Tae [Davante Adams] is a unique receiver, how quick he is, how it gets in and out of things. And really how he sees the game is pretty unique. So, we're getting there. I think we're off to a good start. We've made some plays, missed a couple -- I gave him a couple bad balls today that I should have gotten better, but that's why we practice."
Q"What progress have you seen from the 49ers coverage wise today?
Garoppolo: "I saw D-Mo [Deommodore Lenoir] changed his number. Whenever you move to a single digit you must be doing something right. So, it seems like he had a good offseason. He looked pretty good out there."
Q: I was wondering if you have any thoughts on Season One of "Quarterback" and if that's something you'd be interested in doing or have been asked to do?
Garoppolo: "I haven't seen it. Yeah, haven't seen it. I've heard good things about it, my brothers love it. I think they have a different perspective of what we go through. People just think you go out there and Sunday and start slinging it around. There's a lot that goes into it. But yeah, that's not for me."
The Silver and Black open the preseason by hosting the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, Aug. 13, at 4 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. PDT.
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