San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo didn't go home to Chicago during the team's time off. Instead, he stayed in the Bay Area and got some extra work in to prepare for the Cleveland Browns. The two teams square off on Monday night at Levi's Stadium in what is turning out to be an anticipated primetime matchup.
The 49ers' early bye week may not have been ideal, but at least Garoppolo got to enjoy some better weather. Of course, the weather in Chicago probably would have only gotten worse had the NFL schedule-makers given San Francisco a more reasonable bye week.
"It's not the best weather in Chicago I heard," Garoppolo told reporters on Thursday, "so it never hurts to stay here in this California weather. Yeah, I don't know. I've never had [a bye week] this early before, so I thought [staying] was the right thing to do."
Garoppolo's 49ers are 3-0 and sit atop the NFC West. He hopes to keep the team's hot start going on Monday night and not give up any ground in the standings to the Los Angeles Rams or Seattle Seahawks.
Garoppolo needs all the preparation he can get to maintain his perfect record as a starter at Levi's Stadium. The Browns defense has racked up 14 sacks through four games, which is tied for No. 4 in the league, and the 49ers head into a game, once again, with rookie Justin Skule at left tackle.
"They're very talented," Garoppolo said, "have some guys up front who can just flat out go. And then across the board, their scheme overall, it's pretty complicated, so it'll be a good challenge for us."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan is happy his squad remains undefeated but knows the perfect record means nothing down the stretch.
"Yeah, that is good, but that doesn't mean anything," the 49ers head coach said on September 22. "I've been 5-0 and not made the playoffs before, so that doesn't mean much."
The 49ers players aren't celebrating either. No one is talking about the best opening win streak by the team in over two decades or the possibility of going 4-0 for the first time since 1990. Of course, only eight 49ers were alive the last time that happened.
"Honestly, we haven't really talked about [being undefeated]," Garoppolo shared. "It's a great group of guys in there, great mindsets. It's just another day at work. We're coming in with the right mindset that we're going to go out there and grind, and it's what we've been doing all year."
Garoppolo, Shanahan, and the 49ers remain focused on the upcoming opponent and aren't getting too far ahead of themselves. It's one game at a time for this squad, so for now, that means all of its attention is on the Browns and preparing for its first of three primetime games this year.
"I feel like there's one game left in the season, and I know that's very cliché talk," Shanahan said on Thursday, "but that's very important that you get your mind to that. That's something that, if you don't, you usually get humbled very fast. All our eyes are on Cleveland. We know we're going against a very good team."
Still, Garoppolo is looking forward to seeing what the fans bring to Levi's Stadium on Monday night.
"It'll be exciting, a lot of juice," he commented. "Levi's was rocking last time when the Steelers came and wouldn't expect anything less from the Faithful. It'll be a fun atmosphere, that's for sure."
