Jimmy Garoppolo understands what the offseason is for. Players use it to prepare for the upcoming season and improve and grow from the previous one.
The San Francisco 49ers coaches have a lot of confidence in Garoppolo. With a record of 24-9 as a starter for the team, the quarterback has proven to be a winner — when he's on the field. That's the problem. Garoppolo hasn't proven that he can remain on the football field. He missed 10 games last season due to ankle injuries. He missed 13 in 2018 after suffering an ACL injury.
"This offseason, I had a list of things that I wanted to improve on," Garoppolo told reporters on Tuesday. "First of all, get the body back right, healthy and everything. And it's been going really well. The body feels great."
There are other "little things" that Garoppolo would like to fix this offseason. However, staying healthy has to be a priority. Anything else he works on won't matter if he isn't available for his teammates.
"Really, it's just getting the fundamentals down and just playing within the offense," Garoppolo said. "When I play within the offense, things are good, and things go well, and I stay healthy. So, that was a big part of the offseason."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that Garoppolo appears fully recovered from the ankle injury that sidelined him for most of last season.
"His ankle seems totally healed," Shanahan said. "I mean, I haven't even asked him about it because it looks so good. So, I'd be surprised if there's anything lingering from it."
Added Garoppolo: "Ankle feels great. That really hasn't been a bother since -- I can't remember when."
The quarterback admits that he's been trying to add some muscle this offseason.
"I was trying to, yeah," Garoppolo said. "Nothing crazy, but just trying to -- like I said before, just another thing I was trying to do this offseason, to stay healthy this year, and just put myself in the best situation possible to be successful."
Garoppolo admits to hearing the criticisms directed at him. Those saying that he could be headed out the door because of an inability to stay on the field. They serve as motivation.
The quarterback isn't the only one who is focused on improving his availability. All-Pro tight end George Kittle missed eight games last season due to the combination of an MCL sprain and a broken foot. He hopes to be on the field more in 2021. This offseason, Kittle even created his own workout and training facility in a barn on his property in Nashville, Tennessee.
"A big thing for me this offseason was just foot health, ankle health," Kittle shared on Tuesday. "That's the thing that's just kind of lingered on me. I got a lot of these balance beams from this company called Foot Collective, which has been really fun, just walking up and down these beams. And I've kind of made my own obstacle park, obstacle course, I would say.
"You know, doing whatever I can just to be as healthy as I can be, and as strong in those areas that have been my weakness, and just focus on that because you can't do the same thing and expect different results. So, just trying to add as many new different things that I feel like are making positive influences on my life and on my body."