Broncos' Simmons: Raiders' Jimmy Garoppolo Did 'Great Acting' Before Concussion Check

Denver Broncos safety Justin Simmons thinks Jimmy Garoppolo may have been trying to win an Oscar on the first-quarter hit in Sunday's game that briefly took the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback off the field.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Simmons said Garoppolo did a "great acting" job to draw a 15-yard personal foul call.

The play occurred on the opening possession of the game with the Raiders facing a 3rd-and-7 at Denver's 19-yard line. Garoppolo scrambled for eight yards when he was being pulled to the ground by Broncos defensive end Frank Clark.

Simmons came in at the end of the play and appeared as if his shoulder hit Garoppolo in the helmet. Garoppolo stayed on the ground momentarily and was holding his head when the officials threw the flag.

Garoppolo was removed from the game to undergo a concussion evaluation. He wound up sitting out two plays before the Raiders called a timeout to get him back in the game on 3rd-and-goal from the Broncos' three-yard line.

On his first play back in the game, Garoppolo threw a touchdown pass to Jakobi Meyers. The replay of Simmons' hit showed he appeared to make more contact with Clark and wasn't really close to Garoppolo's head at any point.

The NFL hasn't announced a fine for Simmons, but he said there's a pretty good case for him to avoid it on appeal if that happens.

"Those types of plays are so bang-bang, critical third down. I'm not really sure how close the yardage was in real time," Simmons said. "I don't make the rules, but I don't think it was fine-worthy. If it was, I'm sure we'll do a good job with the appeal to that."

The Raiders held on for a 17-16 win over the Broncos in Garoppolo's first start for the team. He finished 20-of-26 for 200 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.