San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo joined KNBR on Wednesday (actually, the interview was recorded on Tuesday and aired on Wednesday) and was asked about that poor decision against the Kansas City Chiefs.
After the 0.0 passer rating performance Garoppolo had against the Denver Broncos, one poor decision in an otherwise impressive outing is allowed. And you know which pass I'm talking about. It was the one Garoppolo aired out toward wide receiver Dante Pettis near the goal line into triple coverage.
Luckily, a defender didn't come away with the football. Still, it could have been a black mark on Garoppolo's otherwise stellar night. It's likely the play people would have talked about since Saturday night, had the football been intercepted.
"He shouldn't have thrown into triple coverage in that situation," head coach Kyle Shanahan said via a conference call on Sunday afternoon. "We were fortunate not to have a pick. I'd like Dante to go up and try to make more of an attempt to catch it, but that's a ball that should never leave his hands."
Garoppolo had a slightly different perspective on the decision, saying that had the game been during the regular season, he never would have made that throw.
"A bit part of that is it still being preseason," Garoppolo said on the "Tolbert, Krueger and Brooks" show. "Or in practice, you try things like that. You know during a real game, you wouldn't make that throw or that decision specifically."
Garoppolo also wanted to make it clear that he is also building trust between himself and his receivers. Pettis, for example, has only played three games with Garoppolo. The quarterback has only played eight games total with the 49ers. There is still a lot of chemistry to be built.
"There's a trust factor between quarterback and whether it's receiver, tight end, running back, whoever is catching the ball," Garoppolo said. "The more you try those things, you see who's going to make the play for you in the crucial situation.
"If you put it in a good spot for them to make a play, you expect them to make a play. They expect you to give them a chance to make the play. So I think it works both ways, just them trusting me, me trusting them, and that comes with reps."
You can listen to the entire interview with Garoppolo below.