Raiders have a decision to make at quarterback

The back injury suffered by quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on Sunday is not as severe as once feared, but it is not yet clear if he will be healthy enough to play against the Bears in Chicago in five days.

That means the Raiders are right back where they were in Week 3 having to decide whether to roll with veteran Brian Hoyer or rookie Aidan O’Connell should Garoppolo not be able to play.

Garoppolo was injured late in the first half against the Patriots and was subsequently taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. The Raiders’ primary concern was the possibility of internal injuries after the wicked hit he took to the back in the second quarter.

But tests on Sunday night ruled out that worst-case scenario.

“That’s good news,” Raiders coach Josh McDaniels said on Monday. “We’re still doing a couple of things this morning, and we’ll kind of make sure we do all the right things here as we go forward. But the prognosis is a lot better than it might have otherwise been.”

That said, McDaniels pointed out that the Raiders are unsure of Garoppolo’s status at this point.

“Don’t know yet for this week, relatively speaking,” McDaniels said. “So there’s a lot to uncover in that regard. But good news relative to what it might have been.”

McDaniels said any decision to play Garoppolo or not will come down to consent from the Raiders’ medical team rather than any urgency to try to build on the momentum of the two-game winning streak the Raiders have put together.

“We’ll protect him for sure and make sure that we’re not putting him at risk. That would never be something we would want to do,” McDaniels said. “That’s going to be a medical thing for us, relative to following their orders. We’ll just take their advice.”

If he can’t go on Sunday, the Raiders will use the next few days to decide who between Hoyer and O’Connell gives them the best chance to win.

“I mean that’s what we’re all about,” McDaniels said. “This isn’t about anything else. Whatever would give the team the best opportunity to win.”

Hoyer came off the bench in relief of Garoppolo and guided the Raiders to a pair of field-goal drives in their 21-17 victory over the Patriots. He played reasonably well while completing 6 of 10 passes for 102 yards and, in the words of McDaniels, “did his job for the most part.”

In fact, he flashed more long-ball ability than Garoppolo has all season with a 48-yard throw to Tre Tucker, one of his two “big-time” throws, per Pro Football Focus.

The hook-up with Tucker was a season-longest for the Raiders and provided a frustrating reminder of an element they are missing this year with Garoppolo, who has never been known for his ability to throw the deep ball.

The Raiders, though, are intrigued by O’Connell, a fourth-round pick from Purdue who played reasonably well against the Chargers when Garoppolo was sidelined with a concussion. They need to use every opportunity to both develop and evaluate O’Connell, who the Raiders consider a potential long-range option. That could persuade them to start him on Sunday.

“They’ve both got game experience. They both have had to operate our offense in critical situations in close games,” McDaniels said. “So that’s helpful for them, too.”

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