After a few ‘chaotic’ seasons, Rams QB Jimmy Garoppolo is having fun again

August 12, 2024

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After a few ‘chaotic’ seasons, Rams QB Jimmy Garoppolo is having fun again

LOS ANGELES — After a wild few seasons, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finally appears to be relaxing.

The 10-year veteran has returned to a reserve role, with both Garoppolo and the Los Angeles Rams recognizing that this was the perfect time to reunite. Garoppolo was looking for a solid foundation, while the Rams wanted a reliable insurance policy for starter Matthew Stafford.

It’s been a great duo so far, especially since Garoppolo has faced so much uncertainty in recent years.

“It was chaotic at times, but it was all learning experiences,” Garoppolo said. The Athletics. “That’s one thing I’ve learned from this. The NFL is crazy, man. Everybody’s got a story. Everybody’s going in whatever direction they’re going to make it. But at the end of the day, it’s your story, and you’ve got to make the best of it. Good, bad or indifferent, whatever happened in the past, it happened. … Now I’m here, and I’m just trying to make every day the best day I can.”

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Garoppolo’s career as a whole has been notably checkered. The New England Patriots drafted him in the second round in 2014, with Bill Belichick citing Tom Brady’s age as a primary reason to explore a potential succession plan. But when Brady’s play failed to decline as he aged, the Patriots traded Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers in 2017.

Garoppolo tore his ACL in 2018, led the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2019, and then lost most of his 2020 season due to a severe ankle sprain. Garoppolo retained his starting spot in 2021 after the Niners made a huge draft investment in Trey Lance, but the team had been preparing to move on to Lance in 2022, setting off an unpredictable chain reaction that seemed to lay the groundwork for Garoppolo to be traded or fired. Instead, he reworked his contract, replacing Lance after his gruesome Week 2 ankle injury but ultimately went down with his own Lisfranc injury, paving the way for the emergence of Brock Purdy.

Garoppolo was never bored. He struggled to recover from offseason foot surgery before joining the Las Vegas Raiders in 2023. He was benched midway through the season, the same day head coach Josh McDaniels was fired.

So you can see why a backup role with the Rams and a chance to reset was attractive to Garoppolo.

“It’s really nice to have a healthy offseason,” Garoppolo said. “I haven’t had one in a while. The foot surgery last year was tough. For anyone who’s ever gone through that, it wasn’t a fun recovery, but I feel like I’m back to being myself. In this role, I can experiment with some things, with the 2s. I can be myself. I haven’t had that in a while, so it feels good to get back to that.

Garoppolo gave much of the credit to Stafford and Rams coach Sean McVay for his reasons for wanting to play in Los Angeles. McVay in particular impressed Garoppolo when the two spoke on the phone. Garoppolo, who has been attracting interest from other teams, was also curious about Stafford’s process.

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Garoppolo, who is serving a two-game suspension to start the season after violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, also understood during the offseason that a guaranteed starting job wasn’t on the table. Sure, he could have gone somewhere to compete with a young quarterback, but that would have created a similar dynamic he experienced in San Francisco, where the organization would inevitably lean on the long-term investment. Likewise, teams that start over at QB tend to have head coaches whose job security isn’t as stable, which is what he saw recently in Vegas.

McVay is as close to a sure thing as there is in the league, and his offensive scheme speaks for itself. The atmosphere in the Rams’ building is as strong as it gets, too.

Garoppolo had myriad reasons to take a step back in Southern California.

“This is a place where you can be yourself, which is different than other places I’ve been. You’re pushed by a sense of urgency, but in a good way. Everyone wants to win, of course. Everyone wants to do well. They do it the right way here. They push you positively. There’s just a lot of good things happening, man. I enjoy it. Even the meetings are a good time. Everything is going well now.”