Jimmy Garoppolo did not practice on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback is dealing with a torn ligament and chipped bone in his thumb and hasn't been comfortable enough to throw the football on the practice field. That's not good news for those, like the 49ers, hoping to have Garoppolo available on Sunday against the Houston Texans.
The 49ers will hold one more practice before Sunday's game. It will a lighter Friday afternoon session in Santa Clara. If Garoppolo misses that practice, it will likely be rookie Trey Lance getting the weekend start—his second career NFL start.
"Again, nothing firm, but this is a bad sign for Jimmy Garoppolo to be able to play on Sunday," Ian Rapoport said Friday morning on NFL Network. "All signs at this point are pointing to Trey Lance, the rookie who they traded up for, to great fanfare, who we've seen so little this season, he may end up starting this week in a huge game for the 49ers. And then, after that, we will see which way they go."
If Lance does start and Garoppolo cannot suit up again, it may usher in a new era at quarterback for the 49ers. Everything has pointed toward San Francisco eventually moving on from Garoppolo. The team traded a haul of draft picks to move up and select Trey Lance at No. 3 overall. So it was always only a matter of time before the transition from Garoppolo to Lance occurred.
Garoppolo is signed through the 2022 season. This offseason, the 49ers could look to trade the veteran quarterback and his $24.2 million base salary to an interested team.
As for Lance, the 49ers have a lot of confidence in their rookie quarterback taking over for Garoppolo.
"If he's the guy that we have to go into battle with this weekend, I am 100 percent confident that he will give us the opportunity to win the game," tackle Trent Williams said this week. "... I think he can go and make the plays that can propel a football team to a W. That's the talent he has. That's why he was picked where he was. Obviously, I have a ton of faith in him."