"It's officially official," Jimmy Garoppolo told reporters on Friday when asked if he is medically cleared to practice. "We're good to go."
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is making his way back from the torn ACL he suffered last September. It was an injury which derailed the entire season and hit the pause button on Garoppolo's development.
"My knee feels good," Garoppolo continued. "I feel good going into it. I think mentally, I'm in a good spot. Now we've got to go out there and perform. That's what it's all about now."
Garoppolo is eager to get back onto the football field. He will do everything in practice. He won't, however, play in the 49ers' preseason opener on August 10 against the Dallas Cowboys. Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that much on Friday.
The hope is to get Garoppolo into some exhibition action to prepare him for Week 1 of the regular season. Much of the team's success, after all, is dependent on a healthy Garoppolo.
The 49ers' first practice of training camp is on Saturday and Garoppolo says he feels good.
"I'm really happy where I'm at," he told reporters. "I think it was a very successful summer. I got a lot done; a lot of different things we wanted to work on. It's really coming together now. Now it's time to roll."
Garoppolo said he took any opportunity during the team's six-week break to get some throwing in. His teammates were scattered, so those sessions took place in the Bay Area and Southern California, where Garoppolo worked with throwing coach Tom House and his team at 3DQB.
"We got some time in," Garoppolo said.
One benefit of being sidelined for most of last season is that Garoppolo had an opportunity to study Shanahan's offense further. That has left the quarterback even more confident this offseason.
"The offense, I think, you can always keep learning," Garoppolo said. "Kyle's been doing this for so many years. He knows it like the back of his hand. That's really where I'm trying to get to as quickly as I can, and that's the goal."
