NFL fans, along with the media, were excited to see what Jimmy Garoppolo could do in a full season following an impressive five-game run to end 2017. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback's 2018 season ended after he suffered an ACL injury during a Week 3 contest in Kansas City.
Garoppolo was supposed to start four games for the New England Patriots in place of a suspended Tom Brady in 2016. He was sidelined with a sprained AC joint during the second quarter of a Week 2 contest against the Miami Dolphins.
Garoppolo's durability is now being questioned by certain segments of the media (and some fans) following his latest injury. The quarterback is still relatively inexperienced when it comes to in-game action.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, in a discussion with Dan "Big Cat" Katz, discussed his concerns surrounding Garoppolo, who has yet to start a full season's worth of games over his five NFL seasons. Katz, in his hot take for the week, doesn't even believe Garoppolo will be ready for Week 1 of the regular season.
"I think the 49ers will make sure he's ready to go fully," Katz said. "I don't think he's going to start the season."
Expanding on that prediction, Florio said he is concerned with Garoppolo's durability.
"Even if Garoppolo is healthy, he hasn't proven he can stay healthy," Florio said. "He had that four-game audition in 2016 with the Patriots, and he got injured in the second game. It opened the door for Jacoby Brissett. So, Garoppolo has not been a guy who has proven to be durable, and I think that is a real concern."
You can watch the entire segment below.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan recently discussed the need to get Garoppolo some more in-game experience. The 49ers have remained hopeful that their quarterback will be ready for the start of the regular season.
"Jimmy hasn't got to play a whole season yet," Shanahan told MJ Acosta of NFL Network. "I was looking forward to that for him. Not just because he would have helped our team but also Jimmy needs to play. He's going to get that opportunity this year. He's got a lot of ability. He's played very well when he has played.
"I know there will be some bumps in the road for him as we go through this year, as there is for all quarterbacks, but we're very excited to go through them with him. I thought it would be last year, but we just had to wait one year longer than expected."
Garoppolo is expected to start throwing to teammates and doing non-contact work during organized team activities, which kick off in late-May, and is expected to be medically cleared for training camp in late-July.