In a bit of a surprise, Jimmy Garoppolo will try to participate in Wednesday's practice with his teammates. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is dealing with a thumb injury. Reports stated that Garoppolo suffered an ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) tear and a chipped bone in his right thumb, which many felt made his availability for Sunday against the Houston Texans unlikely.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team's training staff are working with Garoppolo to see if he can throw at practice on Wednesday, and the quarterback will not require surgery.
"The trainers are taking him out right now to see how much he can do," Shanahan said. "If he can do some, he will be limited today. If not, he won't practice, and he'll try again tomorrow."
Shanahan initially reported the injury as a thumb sprain.
"To clear that up, the reason that was worded that way was because that's the way it was worded to me," Shanahan explained. "There's three types of sprains, and he has a Grade 3 sprain, since I've got to give you guys more information to clear up Ian [Rapoport] and Adam's [Schefter] tweet. It is a Grade 3 sprain. The reason they never mentioned to me a fracture is because that really didn't have much to do with it.
"The third-degree sprain that he has on his UCL ligament, when that was ripped up, it pulled off a little fleck of his bone. So when there's a bone that has anything off of it, you can call it a fracture, you can call it a chip, you can call it something. But that really isn't what is keeping him out. It's the third-degree sprain that he has. But because it's not moving and stuff, it doesn't need surgery, and he has a chance to play this week."
Shanahan added, "I think he's feeling a lot better today than he was a few days ago."
Shanahan noted that running back Elijah Mitchell (knee) will be limited at practice. The team's other rookie running back, Trey Sermon, should be activated off injured reserve before Sunday. Linebacker Dre Greenlaw (groin), defensive lineman Maurice Hurst (calf), safety Talanoa Hufanga (knee), linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) will not practice. Defensive tackle D.J. Jones (ankle) will be limited.
