With Jimmy Garoppolo set to miss another contest on Sunday, the Raiders have a decision to make regarding who they start under center in Week 7. Rookie Aidan O’Connell and veteran Brian Hoyer represent the team’s options, and a commitment appears to have been made. 
Las Vegas will start Hoyer against the Bears, Dianna Russini of The Athletic reports. That means Week 7 will mark his first start since last season in his second stint in New England. Hoyer signed a two-year deal in free agency this offseason despite giving serious consideration to retirement, a move which reunited him with Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels.
The latter tapped O’Connell in Week 4 to make his NFL debut, a sign of confidence in the fourth-rounder. He went 24-for-39 for 238 scoreless yards and one interception in a loss to the Chargers. O’Connell added one rushing touchdown, but his three fumbles no doubt gave McDaniels and the coaching staff pause about when to give him another opportunity in regular season action.
Garoppolo is dealing with a back injury which caused him to be transported to hospital midway through the Raiders’ Week 6 win over the Patriots. It came out yesterday that he will miss Sunday’s game, opening the door to Hoyer seeing an extended look. It was the 38-year-old who came in as relief after Garoppolo’s exist last week, delivering a 94.6 passer rating in limited action while helping guide the team to a victory.
Now sitting at 3-3, the Raiders will turn to Hoyer against a Bears team which will also be without its starter on Sunday. Justin Fields‘ thumb injury will sideline him for at least one full contest, clearing the way for undrafted rookie Tyson Bagent to get his first NFL start. The last time Hoyer won a game he started, meanwhile, came back in 2016 when he played for the Bears. His next opportunity to end that drought will come in Chicago on Sunday in a battle of the backups.
Not surprising. They turned to Hoyer after Garappolo was injured mid game last week. Even though McDaniels lit into Hoyer on the sideline, he obviously trusts him more not to turn the ball over, which is more important to him than any other aspect of QB play. If Garappolo misses significant time again, you’d think that O’Connell has a good shot at getting another chance, though. At Hoyer’s age, starting a lot of games will probably result in a diminishing product over time, even if he offers security in the short term.