Nothing has come easy for Jimmy Garoppolo within the last 365 days -- losing his starting spot with the San Francisco 49ers to Trey Lance and then breaking his foot after regaining the role in the 2022 season following an injury to Lance. The trend continued this week after his signing and subsequent press conference was pushed back from Thursday to Friday. Garoppolo said Friday the delay centered around contract "language," and that there was "no worry" about finalizing his deal with the Raiders. He said both sides "knew what they wanted to get done" describing the closing talks "collaborative and coming together."
Here's what else the new Raiders starting quarterback had to say about joining the Silver and Black.
Getting reintroduced to the Josh McDaniels offense: "Kyle's [Shanahan] offense versus Josh's offense, there's just a different mindset behind it," Garoppolo said. "I think revamping my mind like that is the first step and then just relearning the language. It's like going from Spanish to French or something like that. It won't take long. I think Josh's offense has evolved over the years. I just have to pick it up as quickly as possible. It'll be fun."
Plenty left to prove: "Hell yeah, I'm trying to win a Super Bowl. I know every player says that when they come up to their first press conference but that's my goal. I want to get the Silver and Black back to where it should be. I know it's not an easy process going through it in San Francisco. But it will be worth it."
Felt like home: "The familiarity with Josh [McDaniels], Dave [Ziegler], the GM -- all that played a role," he said when talking about how two of the people who drafted him in New England now run the Raiders helped him decide to join Las Vegas.
Ready to roll up his sleeves: "[I'm] coming in with the mindset that [I have] to earn everything. "I don't want to be given any 'you're the franchise guy,' or whatever. I want to come in and earn it."
The winding road of his nine-season NFL journey: "That's the NFL. You never know what your path's going to be and as long as you keep rolling with the punches and believing in yourself, good things will happen. I've been fortunate enough to be surrounded by good teammates, good coaches and good things have happened for me."
On new uniforms and wardrobe: It's really cool, it really is," Jimmy GQ said. "I get to wear black, all black, [all the time]. That's one of the coolest parts of it [signing with the Raiders]."
Teaming up with the cool kids: What I knew about the Raiders [growing up] was from my dad who was a Bears fan, but he also liked the Raiders," Garoppolo said. "He always said they were the 'cool team.' The team everyone wanted to cheer for. The badasses. I can remember Ken Stabler and guys like that, hard-nosed guys. ... That's what we're trying to get back to."
The energizer: "[I'm] trying to bring in energy. Trying to get everyone on the same page, get everyone rolling in the same direction."
"Like I said before, I'm trying to earn it. Just because I'm the quarterback, I'm not the leader because of that. I want to be the leader because guys respect me and believe in me, and I think that starts with hard work. It's a spectator sport. We're putting on a show out there for the fans and if we could do it in the right way, things will work out."
A Patriots reunion in Las Vegas: Garoppolo reunites with his former Patriots offensive coordinator and current Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels: "He's very smart, very smart," the quarterback said. "Taught me the game of football in the NFL, but he cares too about winning. You can tell from talking to him that winning is important to him, and I wouldn't say that's true of everybody in the NFL. When you get an opportunity like that, it's hard to pass up."
The Raiders signed four former New England Patriots, including Garoppolo this offseason: fullback Jakob Johnson, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
