The door hasn't completely shut on the possibility of Jimmy Garoppolo being the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. The veteran quarterback hasn't practiced this week after sustaining a calf injury during Week 4's loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Things appear to be trending in the direction of rookie Trey Lance making his first career NFL start. Garoppolo hasn't given up hope of playing, though. He may be on the practice field on Friday, the team's final practice of the week.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR this afternoon. The only player he was willing to rule out for the weekend is cornerback K'Waun Williams, who isn't expected to return until after the bye week.
"Jimmy told me he wants to give it a go tomorrow, so we'll see him out on the practice field tomorrow," Shanahan said on the Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "If he looks good, then he'll have a shot. If he can't, then we'll shut him down."
Assuming Garoppolo can practice tomorrow and isn't hindered by his injury, is there a downside to playing him with only one day of practice under his belt?
"Jimmy, it's more just his health," Shanahan explained. "If he feels good enough to where he can protect himself, he feels confident to step into all his throws, Jimmy's been here long enough, and he's not a guy who's just sitting here and rehabbing all week and checked out. He's a guy who, besides the practice field, you would think he was starting.
"I mean, the meetings, the questions he asks, he's on top of the whole game plan and everything. And he's been through it enough to where it's not that he has to do that stuff. The main thing is, the fact that he wants to give it a go means he's feeling better, but you never really know until he goes out there and does a full dropback, has to react, and really step into some throws. And that's what you want to see from him."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.