Raiders report: Jimmy Garoppolo cleared to return Monday

Jimmy Garoppolo will start at quarterback for the Raiders against the Lions on Monday night in Detroit, coach Josh McDaniels said.

“He’s good to go,” McDaniels said at his Saturday morning news conference.

Garoppolo missed Sunday’s loss to the Bears in Chicago with a back injury he suffered during the previous week’s win over the Patriots. He left that game at halftime and was taken by ambulance to the hospital to be checked for internal injuries.

“It was different than any injury I’ve had,” Garoppolo said this week. “Thankfully things worked out, feeling good.”

McDaniels said he has liked what he has seen out of Garoppolo on the practice field this week.

“I think he’s got a little pep in his step,” said McDaniels, who pointed out the team is anxious to get back on the field and clear the memory of the ugly 30-12 loss to the Bears. “He’s like everybody else. He didn’t play last week, but he wants to get us headed in the right direction and start doing some things better that maybe we haven’t been doing as well.

“But good leadership, good energy at practice, good execution. Working with everybody across the board and just really trying to put our focus where it needs to be and stack good days.”

Injury report

Cornerbacks Nate Hobbs and Jakorian Bennett may return to action Monday night.

Both players are officially questionable for the game, but McDaniels expressed optimism.

“I think we’re headed in the right direction with both guys,” he said before practice. “Giving them one more opportunity here to work and make sure we don’t have anything that comes up. But I feel better today than I did a few days ago.”

Hobbs has missed the last four games with an ankle injury. Bennett has played just once in the last three weeks and was on the field for less than 50 percent of the defensive snaps the one week he was active against the Patriots. The rookie has dealt with shoulder and knee issues.

Linebacker Divine Deablo is the only player officially ruled out on the injury report.

The biggest question mark is kicker Daniel Carlson, who was able to kick after injuring his right groin in warmups last week even though he did not look comfortable.

Carlson got in a limited practice session Saturday after sitting out Thursday and Friday and was listed as questionable on the final injury report.

“I trust him to know his body and situation better than everybody else,” McDaniels said.

Having two kickers on the active game-day roster isn’t ideal, so the Raiders will decide over the next 48 hours whether to activate James McCourt, who was signed to the practice squad this week but has never kicked in a regular-season game.

“He’s had a good week and fits in with our guys,” McDaniels said. “He’s done a really good job in practice, strong leg. He’s worked with our snapper and our holder and got plenty of repetitions in. So we really like what he’s done, and he’ll be ready to go if we need him.”

Homecoming

Former Eastern Michigan star Maxx Crosby, who grew up a die-hard Lions fan, is looking forward to playing in Detroit for the first time in the NFL.

“It’s going to be incredible,” the Raiders defensive end said Saturday. “I’m super excited. Obviously, I’m going to have a lot of family and friends in attendance. I’m definitely looking forward to it.”

Crosby teased an announcement involving his alma mater to come on Sunday when the Raiders arrive in town, saying he will appear with his former coach and athletic director.

But the game is at the forefront of his mind. Crosby was asked about his favorite Detroit players growing up, and he did a deep dive of recent Lions names, from Calvin Johnson to Joique Bell, before reiterating his disappointment that the organization decided to fire Jim Caldwell at the end of the 2017 season.

There was a time Crosby wanted to don the Honolulu Blue.

“During the draft process, I definitely wanted to stay close to home,” he said. “But it is what it is.”

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.