San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is in a better situation than he was when he joined head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad in late October last year. A full offseason of study and becoming familiar with Shanahan's offense is expected to elevate the quarterback's play in 2018.
Is Garoppolo where Shanahan wants him to be? Not quite. But that's mostly due to the head coach's understandably high expectations of his players.
"You want everyone to be perfect, so my answer will never be yes," Shanahan told reporters on Thursday after the 49ers' final joint practice with the Houston Texans. "He's been working his tail off going through this process. We've been through the (play) install completely. Now we're starting to isolate a little bit on coverages we're going against, but I've been real happy with him."
Garoppolo is appreciative of having the whole offseason to work on the playbook.
"It's been good having OTAs, training camp, a whole offseason to really slow things down," Garoppolo said. "Last year, it was just kind of, 'Learn this by the end of the week and we'll figure it out on Sundays.' Having Kyle and (quarterbacks coach) Rich (Scangarello) being able to describe how everything is tied together, it makes my job easier."
Shanahan says the plan right now is to play Garoppolo and the starters "maybe a little bit more" against the Texans on Saturday night. However, he also said that playing time might be similar to the first preseason game.
"We'll feel it out," Shanahan said. "He'll probably go a little bit more, but I wouldn't expect much more."
Shanahan seems relatively happy with his newest running back, Alfred Morris, who joined his new teammates on Tuesday and took part in joint practices against the Texans.
"He didn't do OTAs or training camp anywhere," Shanahan said. "He did a good job in practice yesterday. I expect to see him a little bit in the game (on Saturday). I'll watch the film when we get off, but we haven't decided exactly. I would assume he'll get a little bit more in the third game than this game."
The biggest training camp battle has been at right guard. Injuries, however, have slowed the evaluation process. Jonathan Cooper is working his way back from MCL surgery in January while Joshua Garnett has been dealing with a knee injury.
"I do expect [Cooper] to play (on Saturday)," Shanahan said. "He's made it through two practices. We've upped his reps each day. It's hard for me to really isolate on o-line out at practice. It was a big practice for him today, so I'll see it when I watch the tape. But the healthier he looks, the more reps he'll get in the game."
Garnett worked with the first-team offense on Thursday after working with the backups on Monday and Wednesday.
"[Garnett] looked good on tape yesterday," Shanahan continued. "He definitely looked healthy yesterday. The test will be after fatigue sets in. Today was the second day in a row. We upped his reps. So I'm looking forward to watching the tape when I get in."
Safety Terrell Williams Jr. went down with an injury on Thursday and was carted off the field. The good news is that he was seen walking around after practice and told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area that he felt fine.
Still, Shanahan isn't ruling out the possibility that the 49ers might need to bring in some extra help. The 49ers are already without safety Marcell Harris, who injured his hamstring during Wednesday's practice.
"With [Williams] going down, some of the issues we have, we might have to look to see at bringing someone else in," Shanahan said. "I've got to find out how hurt these guys are, especially losing Marcell yesterday too."
Good news. I just spoke to Terrell Williams, who fell hard after slipping on concrete. He's walking and said he is fine.
— Matt Maiocco (@MaioccoNBCS) August 16, 2018
