There's been a lot of discussion surrounding San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this season. Will he be with the team next year? Will the 49ers replace him with a draft pick?
Tight end George Kittle has identified one area in which Garoppolo has improved this season. Although, it probably won't factor into any decision San Francisco makes regarding the quarterback's future with the team.
One fan asked Kittle via an Instagram Q&A if Garoppolo has texted him back.
"Guys, I really approached the concern," Kittle responded. "Jimmy G has text me back. Actually, it's really escalating, and the amount of messages I get now is at an all-time high. I'm going to do my best to manage and reply to each one of those messages."
George Kittle provides an update on Jimmy G's texting ability and says it has "escalated." 🤣
(Via Nike Football's IG) pic.twitter.com/bGd9p9B1j2
— Ali Thanawalla (@Ali_Thanawalla) November 14, 2020
H/t to Jessica Kleinschmidt of NBC Sports for the find.
In January, Kittle explained how bad Garoppolo is at returning text messages.
"He is the worst texter of all time," Kittle said during the days leading to Super Bowl LIV. "I'm telling you, he leaves me unread all the time. I'll be, 'Hey Jimmy, I've got a question. Maybe on this play, should I run my route like this?' No response. 'Jimmy, want to go to a movie?' No response.
"And then the next day he's like, 'Yeah, I got your text. I just didn't respond.' Thanks, Jim. That's awesome. So yeah, he's a bad texter. Bad communication."
Even general manager John Lynch has commented on Garoppolo's texting response times.
"Shoot, it's hard to get a text back from Jimmy," Lynch said while laughing this week on KNBR, "so I know he's not looking at his phone all the time."
Lynch was asked if Garoppolo really doesn't text him back. The GM, after all, is the man in charge of the roster. That's probably someone you would want to respond to as quickly as possible.
"He does. I'm just joking," Lynch responded, again, while laughing. "With me, he does. We've heard from Kittle. I think he's much improved in 2020, which is a great step."
