"When I see Jimmy, I see a winner," San Francisco 49ers left tackle Trent Williams told NBC Sports Bay Area's Donte Whitner when asked about his quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo has attracted his fair share of criticisms over the years. Most of that started after the 2019 season, with much of the blame for a Super Bowl loss placed on the quarterback's shoulders.
It didn't help that the 49ers have tried to move on from Garoppolo since then, flirting with the idea of replacing him with other veterans like Tom Brady or Matthew Stafford before finally trading a haul of draft capital for Trey Lance.
When Williams joined the 49ers, the team was coming off that Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. After having to endure playing for years for the team that would become the Washington Commanders, joining a winning quarterback was a blessing.
Garoppolo is having a solid 2022 campaign and is set to become a coveted free-agent quarterback after this season. He has thrown for 2,381 yards with 16 touchdowns and just four interceptions through 10 games. His last interception came on October 23 in a loss against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Garoppolo and the 49ers have won four straight since then and look to keep things rolling this afternoon against the Miami Dolphins.
"I've never seen anything different [than a winner], so this doesn't surprise me," Williams shared. "I think that we can all give hats off to his character and how he handled this situation, seeing the people he fought with, bled with the last few years over here conducting business while he has to motivate himself over on the side and still go about it like everything's normal."
Williams is referring to the strange offseason Garoppolo and the 49ers went through. The team hoped to trade the quarterback, but offseason shoulder surgery thwarted those plans. He rehabbed his shoulder, throwing on the side as the 49ers conducted training camp practices.
Unable to find a trade partner, the 49ers and Garoppolo agreed to extend their marriage for one more season, and the quarterback signed a restructured one-year deal to become Lance's backup. Then Lance suffered a season-ending injury in Week 2, and Garoppolo was thrust back into the starting lineup. Garoppolo never made the situation uncomfortable and pushed forward the best he could.
"Jimmy's just one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet, and he was the perfect guy for this scenario," Williams said. "And I think hats off to how he handled it, and hats off to how he's continued to play, and how he continues to elevate this team."
As for Garoppolo's 2022 campaign, Whitner asked the veteran tackle if this was the best he's seen his quarterback play.
"Yeah, I think so," Williams responded. "My perception of Jimmy—he's a godsend. When I came here, he had just taken these guys to the Super Bowl before I got here. When you look at the graphic they always put up, when you look at his record as a starter, I'm like, 'Damn, that's pretty good.'
"It's hard to win games in this league. His record has always been good as a starter. When he got his chance, they gave him his team, they built the team around him, they went to the Super Bowl. ... Then you look to [2021], we get healthy at the right time, we make our run, and Jimmy is a huge part of that."
Williams and the 49ers hope Garoppolo can do it again, this time finishing the 2022 season with a Lombardi Trophy in hand.