Jimmy Garoppolo said the two-game suspension he received for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing substances policy stemmed from a mistake.
The Los Angeles Rams‘ new backup quarterback told reporters on Tuesday that he “messed up” the therapeutic-use exemption.
Even though it was a prescribed medication, Garappolo acknowledged that he was also required to receive a valid therapeutic-use exemption from the NFL.
The 32 year old will be able to participate in the offseason programs, but once the regular season arrives, he’ll be barred from the facilities during the two weeks of his suspension.
Garappolo is optimistic that “those first two games [will] pass by.”
“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.”
The 10-year veteran arrived in Los Angeles on a one-year deal to backup Matthew Stafford. This comes a year after Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.75 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders.
After playing in seven games, throwing for 1,205 yards, seven touchdowns, nine interceptions and completing 65.1 percent of his passes last season, the Raiders released him last week. He missed 10 games due to a back injury and concussion.
Garappolo is hoping to find success and comfort in Rams head coach Sean McVay’s offense, since it also stems from the Mike Shanahan coaching tree.
“Obviously good players all around,” Garoppolo said. “That’s a big part of it. Talking to Sean on the phone, him just running me through offense and things that he had in mind, it really became appetizing. And I know a lot of the coaches here, so a lot of familiarity in that aspect. And then having played against the Rams a lot in my career, I’ve seen a lot of good things from LA.”
