QB Jimmy Garoppolo on suspension: 'Just messed up' therapeutic use exemption

Los Angeles Rams backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is suspended for the first two games of the 2024 season for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances. Tuesday, the former Raiders signal-caller said the two-game ban came after he messed up the therapeutic use exemption.

“I mean, just messed up the TUE, really,” Garoppolo said, via the team’s official transcript. “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.”

Garoppolo inked a one-year deal with the Rams this offseason to back up Matthew Stafford. The contract has a base value of $4.5 million and has a max value of $12 million based on incentives, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Wednesday, per sources.

Jimmy G is able to participate in the Rams offseason program, including training camp and the preseason, before going on the suspended list for the first two weeks of the season. He said he plans to “attack” preseason work in preparation for time missed.

“Hopefully, we’ll get some dubs and start off 2-0 and keep things moving,” Garoppolo said. “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.”

Garoppolo spent one season with the Raiders, dealing with injuries in ineffective play before being benched and ultimately released. After up-and-down play and a litany of injuries in San Francisco, Garoppolo views playing under Sean McVay as a shot to revamp his credibility around the NFL, much like Baker Mayfield did two years ago in a similar spot.

“Sean’s a phenomenal offensive mind, and a lot of the guys around here are, and I think that plays a big part in reinventing, whatever you want to call it, a quarterback, having good people around you,” Garoppolo said. “It’s not all going to be done by you. You got to have the people around you to put you in a good position, call the right plays, all those little things. And yeah, I saw this opportunity and I got excited. It just seemed right.”

Stafford missed one game in 2023 due to injury and sat out the regular season finale with a playoff ticket already punched. In 2022, he missed eight games as the Rams seasons sputtered. Prior to that, Stafford has mostly been a warrior, able to play through injuries. L.A. hopes that’s the case again, but if the 36-year-old QB gets dinged up, we’ll see Jimmy G hit the field for the Rams — after Week 2, of course.