Glazer: 49ers holding out hope that Jimmy Garoppolo can return for playoffs

There is a slight chance that we could see Jimmy Garoppolo one more time as the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback. He is slated to become a free agent after the season.

Garoppolo could return to the football field with the 49ers if the team makes a deep enough playoff run. Although, head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch have admitted that is not something the 49ers are optimistic about. Still, the door has not been shut on the possibility, which explains why the veteran quarterback hasn't landed on the injured reserve list.

On Thursday, Lynch provided an update on Garoppolo during his interview on KNBR.

"That's a hard one to monitor, Marcus (Thompson of KNBR)," Lynch said. "But I can tell you he's out of his cast now, in more of a boot, but still not walking on that. I think they wanted a good opportunity for healing early on, but he did get the hard cast off. So that's the progress, but it's not something that you can check on each and every day because the first part was just letting this thing heal."

On Saturday morning, hours ahead of the 49ers' Week 16 contest against the Washington Commanders, FOX Sports' Jay Glazer repeated the news that Garoppolo was out of the cast and in a walking boot. However, he added a few more tidbits.

"He'll have [the walking boot] taken off after next weekend's game [against the Las Vegas Raiders]," Glazer said on-air. "The team is holding out hope that there's a possibility—even though [QB Brock] Purdy is playing great—that Garoppolo will be able to play in the postseason. But they'll know more when they get that walking boot taken off after next week's game."

The real question is what role Garoppolo will play if he can return. Will he return as the starter after not taking a snap since December 4? Or will he serve as an emergency backup to rookie quarterback Brock Purdy, who has played well for the 49ers thus far?

Brock Purdy proved toughness vs. Seahawks

We already knew that Purdy played through oblique and rib injuries against the Seattle Seahawks, his third game of extended action and second career start. However, Glazer added some more details regarding the severity of the injury.

"What people don't know is that last game they played a couple of Thursdays ago in Seattle, he actually had a strained oblique," Glazer reported, "and had some tears in the muscle fiber, and also an injury to his ribs, as well. An hour-and-a-half before the game, he couldn't throw more than 10 yards.

"He took a pain-killing injection, and the team said, 'Oh my gosh.' What they thought about him just went through the ceiling that day."