Jimmy Garoppolo is on his fourth career team in the NFL after signing with the Los Angeles Rams this week, a one-year deal to back up Matthew Stafford. The Rams prioritized the backup quarterback position after a disastrous year at that spot in 2023 and they landed on a veteran with plenty of experience.
Unfortunately, Garoppolo will be unavailable for the first two games of the 2024 season after being suspended for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
“I mean, just messed up the TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions), really. I hate to joke about it, but just messed up the TUE when I first got to Las Vegas and yeah, bad timing I guess,” he said.
Garoppolo is still eligible to participate in all offseason activities so it’s not as if he has to stay away from the team during the summer. He’ll get to work closely with Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay to learn the offense in advance of the regular season before returning in Week 3.
The Rams will obviously need to find an emergency backup for the first two weeks while Garoppolo is out, but in an ideal world, Stafford will be available for those games – and all 15 after that, too.
As for how Garoppolo will handle the suspension, he admits it’s “a weird one.”
“Take it in stride, I guess. Never really been in this situation before so it’s a weird one, but it is what it is,” he said. “I think attack OTAs, attack training camp, and let those first two games pass by. Hopefully we’ll get some dubs and start off 2-0 and keep things moving. But it’s just one of those situations. It is what it is. You got to deal with it and just keep moving on and stay positive.”
