San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is eager to put Monday night's preseason game against the Denver Broncos out of his mind. He is looking forward toward the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday.
The expectation is that Garoppolo, who went 1-of-6 passing for zero yards and an interception against Denver, will get more playing time in his second outing since suffering a torn ACL on September 23, 2018.
"I would like him to get a whole half in," head coach Kyle Shanahan said before Thursday's practice. "But sometimes halves can be 20 plays; sometimes they can be 45. It's more about the play count, but you'd like him to get a normal half in."
The goal is not to have Garoppolo playing in the third quarter against the Chiefs, but the plan could be altered if Shanahan feels as if his quarterback needs more snaps.
Garoppolo was only in for three series against the Broncos. He took 11 snaps and threw six passes. It wasn't a large enough sample size for the quarterback to get into any kind of rhythm, especially considering how long it had been since he took an in-game snap.
Garoppolo hopes things will be different on Saturday. It will be the team's third preseason game, often referred to as the "dress rehearsal." That means starters typically play more than they do in other exhibition games to best prepare for Week 1. Usually, they do not play in the final preseason game.
"Hopefully, we can string some plays together, get some good drives and everything, and get the offense moving," Garoppolo said on Thursday. "It's just taking it from the practice field and bringing it over to the game field and making it happen."
Health-wise, Garoppolo is feeling pretty good.
"The knee is holding up well, so I'm happy about that," he said.
Garoppolo will be stepping foot in Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since suffering his season-ending injury there last season. That could be seen as yet another mental hurdle for the quarterback to overcome.
"I haven't talked to him specifically about (playing in) Kansas City," Shanahan said. "I know last week was his first time with the possibility of getting tackled. He didn't. He's going to play more this week, so I know, just anytime you come back from an injury, there's a bunch of mental hurdles you've got to get over, even when you are healthy and feel good.
"I'm sure there is some stuff with it just being eerie — that's the only word I could use there — going back to that same place, but I haven't talked to him about that specifically."
Garoppolo admits that he would occasionally flashback to that moment when he got hurt. He'd have thoughts about what he could have done differently. It doesn't happen as often anymore. The quarterback feels he is past it. Still, it will be interesting returning to Arrowhead.
"It'll be a good stepping stone," Garoppolo said. "Definitely, it will be a little weird getting back there but just trying to treat it like a normal game."
What does Garoppolo hope to accomplish in his extended playing time versus the Chiefs?
"I think just go out there and execute," he responded. "As an offense, like I said, get us into a good rhythm, get the ball moving down the field, just kind of string good plays together, one after another. I think that's what it's ultimately all about as an offense, is just consistently going out there and executing."
