Thank goodness Jimmy Garoppolo is so attuned to blocking out the noise coming from outside 4949 Marie P DeBartolo Way. After his five-interception practice last week and his 0.0 passer rating on Monday night, there has been a lot of discussion surrounding the San Francisco 49ers quarterback.
Garoppolo's first in-game action came 11 months after the quarterback suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Kansas City. That means it had been nearly a year since he had a real pass rush gunning for him. You know, one that was actually allowed to hit him.
That didn't stop anyone from overanalyzing the poor performance on Monday night against the Denver Broncos, and now we have the New England Patriots color analyst, Scott Zolak, adding his own hot take to the pile.
Garoppolo remains a hot topic among Boston Sports media, and his recent struggles as he returns from injury have been no exception. NFL.com writer Marc Sessler shared the following quote by Zolak.
#Patriots color man @scottzolak just called Jimmy Garoppolo 'one of the worst practice quarterbacks we've had here.'
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSessler) August 23, 2019
Of course, it may have just been a random observation by someone who remembers Garoppolo's practice habits. Still, Patriots coach Bill Belichick was reportedly forced to trade Garoppolo, who he envisioned as an eventual replacement for future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. At least, that was the talk coming out of New England in the months following the trade to San Francisco.
Those with an emotional investment in the 49ers are eager to see what Garoppolo does on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs. The quarterback is expected to play about a half of football rather than the 11 snaps he took on Monday.
"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."