Jimmy G. gets ‘that little kid feeling’ before 1st practice with Raiders

Jimmy Garoppolo’s mind was racing a million miles a minute when his head hit the pillow Tuesday night.

The mixture of nerves and excitement reminded him of the anticipation he used to feel when summer break was ending and the first day of a new school year beckoned.

“That little kid feeling,” is how he described it Wednesday after the Raiders’ first training camp practice.

Never mind that he’s a 31-year-old veteran of nine NFL seasons, a quarterback who helped one team to the Super Bowl and guided another to within one defensive play of a second trip to the league’s championship game.

On the eve of his first camp with the Raiders, Garoppolo might as well have been a kid on Christmas Eve.

“It’s nice to feel that way every once in a while,” he said.

For Garoppolo, it was affirmation of the significance of taking the field for the first time with his new teammates, and the challenge he embraces of winning over a locker room and coaching staff.

The pit in the middle of his stomach told him all he needed to know about that new journey.

“It means something to you,” Garoppolo said. “You care about what you’re doing.”

Wednesday represented a small step in the fresh start he’s getting in Las Vegas, but a significant one after the anxious few months he and his surgically repaired left foot put Raiders fans through. Garoppolo failed his physical upon signing a three-year contract with the Raiders, whose doctors uncovered issues with the foot he broke in December with the 49ers and recommended surgery.

The aftermath meant a dramatically adjusted contract that staked every cent of the $72.5 million contract on his ability to pass a physical and left fans worried that their new quarterback might never play a down for them.

Garoppolo can sympathize with their anxiety. He just didn’t share the unease.

“Never,” he said.

The smile he flashed wasn’t to minimize the situation. It’s just that he had a pretty good idea of what was going on and what needed to happen for him to be ready for the start of camp.

“We had a good plan here,” said Garoppolo, tipping his cap to the training staff. “They did an incredible job to get me back to where I needed to be.”

Garoppolo admitted he isn’t completely healthy, but he looked relatively good Wednesday and seemed to be moving with no issues. The Raiders went through a typical first day, mixing in individual and positional group drills with seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 work.

Garoppolo was front and center and had a number of observations. Among them was the quiet efficiency of wide receiver Davante Adams.

On one play, after completing a pass to Adams, Garoppolo pulled him aside to confirm he was going full speed.

“Because he makes it look so effortless,” Garoppolo said.

On another play, he threw to Adams on a deep ball but, upon seeing where Adams was in conjunction with the flight of the ball, assumed it would fall incomplete.

“I thought I overthrew him,” Garoppolo said.

Adams, though, tracked it down without making it seem like he kicked into another gear.

“It’s a luxury as a quarterback to have a guy like that,” Garoppolo said.

While Wednesday was the first time Adams and Garoppolo worked together at full speed, they have spent time getting to know each other and build chemistry.

“You see the tip of the iceberg out there,” said Adams, referring to practice. “Obviously the rest is what we’re doing the rest of the day.”

Adams added: “It’s good to be together. It’s a process, though. We got a lot of things to do to get on the same page.”

Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on Twitter.