David Garrard has a herniated disk and is going to schedule back surgery this week, he told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen. The Oakland Raiders had reached out to the free-agent quarterback in the wake of Jason Campbell's broken collarbone but Garrard informed the team that he is not available. "The Raiders were in contact with my agent, Al Irby, last night and he was straight with them about my back problem, that I also was having a second opinion today. So it's disappointing because I wanted to play but my doctor says this surgery won't prevent me from playing next year," Garrard told ESPN. Garrard said he has "lost a lot of feeling in my lower left leg and even my left foot has gone dead on me." "I've been trying to manage this going back to training camp but all the exercises and therapy, plus getting some anti-inflammatory treatment, was just masking the bigger problem of a herniated disk. I was in so much pain a week ago Sunday that I went to the emergency room. I got an injection then to calm things down but I've actually been laying on the floor because I haven't been able to find a comfortable position. "The doctor said this is something I probably should have dealt more aggressively with four or five weeks ago. It went from my back to to my hamstring to my calf to my foot, to the point where I couldn't even plant on it when I was working out recently." Read more: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7...-option-oakland-raiders-jason-campbell-injury
