Even sitting with a 2-3 record, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch has no shortage of confidence in his team's ability to step onto the football field and beat anyone. That includes Sunday night's opponent, the Los Angeles Rams.
To do that, though, the 49ers will need Jimmy Garoppolo to perform a whole lot better than he did this past weekend against the Miami Dolphins. The quarterback was playing on an injured ankle, which impacted his play, but he's practiced all week and is expected to start against the Rams.
"The doctors cleared Jimmy (before Sunday's game)," Lynch said Friday morning on KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "He was ready to go. They felt like he could protect himself."
That changed after two quarters of play. Head coach Kyle Shanahan decided at halftime to pull an ineffective Garoppolo and replace him with C.J. Beathard. San Francisco lost the game 43-17.
Lynch attributes Garoppolo's in-game setback to an early hit from a defender. The general manager observed his quarterback after that.
"It didn't look right," Lynch said. "And I think that affected his ability to rotate and throw the ball effectively."
Lynch says Garoppolo has looked good during practices this week. Last week tough the general manager something, though.
"I think we learned a good lesson that practice can look good, and then in the game, something completely different," Lynch added. "I think we're confident — and more confident — this week in Jimmy's ability to go play at a high level, but he's going to have to show us come game time that he can do that."
The 49ers and Rams kick off from Levi's Stadium on Sunday at 5:20 p.m. PT.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.