Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
When
Jimmy Garoppolo spoke with reporters last week, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback noted that he no longer overthinks about the knee he injured during the 2018 season. He is a year further removed from the torn ACL and isn't concerned about his mobility or that first big hit, as was the case last offseason.
"It's night and day compared to where I was last year, at this time,"
Garoppolo said. "At this time last year, it was more so getting back to being in a live pocket, having live bullets flying around me, and getting used to that. We're past that. I haven't really thought about it in a long time."
Garoppolo has been taking part in walk-throughs without the brace he wore all offseason last year and throughout the regular season and playoffs. That was revealed last week when the 49ers posted the following video of the quarterback without it.
The first practices with contact begin next week, so we'll see if that continues through the remainder of training camp.
Fullback
Kyle Juszczyk spoke with reporters on Tuesday via a video conference call and indicated that Garoppolo might be ready to take his game to the next level now that the quarterback's concern for his knee is behind him.
"I just know, speaking as an athlete myself, when you don't have to think about something, if something's not in the back of your mind, and it's not weighing on you, it relieves so much stress, so much pressure, and you're able to play so much more freely," Juszczyk shared.
"So, if he's not thinking about that knee, if it's not even in his head, that's going to be a huge advantage for him, and something that I know, just as an athlete, would make me play better. And I think you're going to see it from him.
"When you don't have to think about that stuff, you can just go turn it loose."
Garoppolo nearly passed for 4,000 yards last season while guiding the 49ers to a division championship and a Super Bowl in his first full NFL season as a starter. Juszczyk isn't the only one who believes the quarterback is capable of more now that he is nearly two years removed from the knee injury.
"When you're coming off an ACL, your concern is, 'Man, can I do this?'" head coach
Kyle Shanahan said last week. "That takes a guy a while to get into stuff. Me seeing him now, talking to him on Zooms, but really just seeing him throwing with the wideouts on air, and getting into these walk-throughs, you can tell that he wasn't working on his ACL all offseason.
"He's been working on everything that he learned through his experiences of last season. And when you can do that, I don't see how you won't get better."
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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo spoke with reporters before Wednesday's practice as the team prepares for Sunday's road game against the New York Jets. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
How familiar are you with former New England Patriots WR Mohamed Sanu and what do you think he can bring to the wide receiver core?
"I've seen a lot of tape on him, just from watching [head coach] Kyle's [Shanahan] offense in the past and things that he's done in it. Heard tremendous things from all the coaches, so we're excited to get him in here. It'll be a quick turnaround, but he's been in this offense before, so hopefully he could pick things up right
There's plenty of blame to go around for the 49ers' 24-20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, but one place the team will need to find some answers in a hurry is on offense, particularly in the passing game.
On the surface, the numbers the 49ers put up through the air on Sunday don't look too bad, with starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo finishing with 259 yards, two touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 103.0 rating on 19 of 33 passing. But on Sunday there were certainly some inconsistencies in Garoppolo's game, which showed up on third and fourth downs in particular.
The 49ers converted just two of 11 third-down opportunities on Sunday, while also falling short on each of their two chances on fourth down. One of Garoppolo's touchdown passes came on a
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after the team's 31-13 victory over the New York Jets. While the Niners won the game, they walked away with several losses on the injury front.
Shanahan said that the 49ers fear a high-ankle sprain for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. That would likely force him to miss time. Shanahan didn't want to speculate on how much time that would be.
Garoppolo suffered the injury in the first quarter as defensive tackle Quinnen Williams tackled him. Trainers worked on the quarterback on the sideline, taping up his foot and ankle.
Garoppolo returned to the game but left for the locker room early before halftime to undergo X-rays. He completed 14 of 16 passes for 131 yards with two touchdowns, both
