Rams News: Jimmy Garoppolo Responds to Unique 'Healthy' Offseason

Garoppolo has dealt with multiple injuries over his career.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmy Garoppolo is finally experiencing a healthy offseason after injuries have plagued him during his career. Garoppolo, who signed a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams is settling into a backup role for the first time since he backed up Tom Brady.

Last offseason, Garoppolo was recovering from surgery after injuring his foot in the 2022 season while he was still playing for the San Francisco 49ers. Garoppolo also missed time during previous seasons due to injuries to his shoulder, a torn ACL, and a high ankle sprain. He has only been able to play for an entire season in 2019, but looks to be available for the majority of this season, even if in a backup role.

“It’s really nice having a healthy offseason,” Garoppolo said, via The Athletic's Jeff Howe. “I haven’t had one of those in a while. The foot surgery was tough last year. For anyone who’s ever been through that, that wasn’t a fun recovery, but I feel like I’m back to myself. Being in this role, I get to experiment with some things, being with the 2s. I get to be myself. I haven’t had that in a little while, so it feels nice to get back to that."

Garoppolo has primarily fought or held for the starting job over his career since he was traded from the New England Patriots to the San Francisco 49ers. He did have to battle Trey Lance on the 49ers and was benched for Aidan O'Connell while with the Las Vegas Raiders last season, but the QB1 position was largely Garoppolo's to lose since he left New England.

The Rams can feel confident in the experience Garoppolo has if Stafford goes down at any point in the season, except for the first two games when Garoppolo will serve a two-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

During the suspension, the Rams will have to rely on Stetson Bennett as their primary backup. Bennett, who has been limited to preseason action since he was drafted in 2023, did not look good during his 2024 preseason debut. The Georgia product threw four interceptions and did not make consistently good decisions outside of the opening and closing drives of the game.

So long as the Rams get through those two games, they can feel assured that they have a quarterback who can come in if needed and lead the team to wins with Garoppolo there.

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