This week, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo said he might seek advice from Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers regarding his situation. Like so many veteran quarterbacks, Rodgers is fighting time and has a young quarterback, Jordan Love, waiting in the wings.
Garoppolo is in a similar situation. He is the undisputed starter in Santa Clara, but the future belongs to rookie Trey Lance, the team's No. 3 overall pick.
"I know Aaron pretty well," Garoppolo said this week on The Rich Eisen Show. "We've talked a couple of times on the field, off the field. Whatever little piece of advice he could give to me — obviously, it's worked out pretty well for him."
Garoppolo has been an admirer of Rodgers for some time. He remembers his time in New England, sitting with Tom Brady and breaking down Rodgers' play.
"I've [studied him] for a while now, since my New England days, honestly," Garoppolo told reporters before today's practice. "When I first came out in the draft, I was studying him pretty hard. He's one of my favorites just to watch and to go against. Just, whenever you can sneak a peek and just see what he's doing, the dude's unbelievable and can do some things with the ball that not many can."
One of Rodgers' traits that Garoppolo has studied is the Packers icon's quick release, something that the 49ers quarterback has worked hard to perfect himself.
"I think in this offense, it benefits you with the short passes that are kind of an extension of the run game," Garoppolo said. "He does a real good job with those, and he doesn't give the defense anything. He makes it difficult on you. He makes you cover the whole field with his arm. And the arm angles he can throw with, it makes it challenging on guys."
Garoppolo's head coach, Kyle Shanahan, is working hard with defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans this week to make sure Rodgers doesn't get into a rhythm on Sunday night against the 49ers.
"He's tough to do it [against]," Shanahan said. "You can't give him the freebies. You can't give him some easy completions. You've got to always watch the big plays. You'd love to keep him in the pocket, but even at his age, he's still got the skillset to get out there, and just with the flick of the wrist, he can cover about the whole field.
"You try your hardest to do it. He's been making people look bad for a long time. But yeah, if you let him get comfortable at all, I think everyone knows what that result is."
Of course, the 49ers inquired about Rodgers' availability right before the draft, when news broke about the rift between the quarterback and the Packers organization. Shanahan explained that the team was just doing its due diligence by reaching out.
"It didn't seem like it was worth the call, but I know how we would have felt if it was going to happen and that we didn't call," Shanahan explained. "You call them, and you get a quick answer [of 'no'], which is what you were expecting, then you move on."
Garoppolo, like many others, learned on social media that his team had reached out to Green Bay. However, he has been in the league long enough to understand how things work.
"That's just kind of how the offseason goes," Garoppolo shared. "Teams are always trying to look something new, something better. That's just kind of the nature of the beast, I guess."