Jimmy Garoppolo had to know the questions were coming. His five-interception performance during Wednesday's practice made headlines, both locally and nationally. That might sound a bit absurd to most, but in this day of social-media overreaction, it is what it is.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is in the Denver area with his teammates for joint practices against the Broncos but still couldn't escape the story.
Garoppolo was half laughing when asked about the headline-grabbing practice. He admitted to initially being angry about the multi-interception outing earlier in the week.
"You guys are seeing me a couple of days removed, but that day I was pretty ticked off," Garoppolo told reporters at the UCHealth Training Center in Englewood, Colorado. "But the defense got the best of me that day. We've had battles back and forth. It's been good for us, good for them, and it's only going to lead to a better football team."
Garoppolo didn't try to offer excuses and called the five consecutive throws, "just five bad decisions." He understands there will be days like that, hopefully in practice and not in games, but he isn't dwelling on it.
Garoppolo responded well during Friday's practice and started the team drills with eight consecutive completions against the Broncos defense. He did, however, throw one interception. Safety Justin Simmons came away with the Garoppolo-thrown pick after pass rusher Von Miller neared the quarterback's legs.
Garoppolo, of course, is coming off of an ACL injury. This was his first practice going against players who were not his teammates. Monday night against the Broncos will be his first in-game action since the injury.
As for Miller rolling toward Garoppolo, the quarterback missed that.
"I didn't even know that. Was he really?" he asked a reporter.
Garoppolo isn't concerned about that first hit by an opposing defender. He knows it will eventually come once he gets back onto the football field and the "bullets start flying," as the quarterback often says.
Garoppolo went on to explain what happened with the interception by Simmons.
"I just left it a little short, didn't get enough air on it," Garoppolo said. "He made a nice play on it."
