Jimmy Garoppolo is recovering from yet another injury. Luckily for him, this latest setback won't cost him too much playing time. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback exited the October 3 game against the Seattle Seahawks with a calf injury. By the end of halftime, he couldn't put much pressure on the leg.
Garoppolo missed the second half of that game and all of the next game — a Week 5 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He returned to the practice field on Monday. The quarterback will be on the field with his teammates today but will be limited, per head coach Kyle Shanahan.
Everything points toward Garoppolo being ready to go for Sunday's game against the Indianapolis Colts, assuming no setbacks. Will he be at 100 percent, though, by kickoff?
"I'm hoping, yeah," Garoppolo responded before today's practice. "I mean, it will get better every day, I think. Test it out on the field, see what we can do and everything. But right now, it feels great."
The hope is that Garoppolo can play this weekend. His backup, rookie Trey Lance, suffered a knee sprain in that game against the Cardinals and is not practicing today. This week's practices will tell the 49ers a lot more about their veteran quarterback's recovery, but things appear to be trending in the right direction.
"Feeling good, feeling real good," Garoppolo said. "I'll go out there, test it out a little bit. But overall, it's feeling like it's in the right spot."
Despite not playing in Week 5, Garoppolo was seen getting some work in on the field before the game in Arizona. He definitely didn't look 100 percent then. Garoppolo was asked if the main issue was being unable to push off the leg, which obviously impacts his mobility and throws.
"Yeah, pushing off of it, those quick little jerky movements, I guess you could say," Garoppolo admitted. "Just didn't want to push it too much last week, but I think, during the bye week, we've really made some big strides. I'm happy where it's at."
Garoppolo didn't get to enjoy his bye week like some of his healthier teammates did. Many scattered for a few days to visit family or take a much-needed break from the daily grind of football.
Garoppolo stayed put.
"I was here getting this calf right," the quarterback said. "Not really much off time, but it's that time of the year. Time to grind."
