Getty Jimmy Garoppolo will miss extended time for the 49ers as he recovers from an ankle injury.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will miss his second straight game as he continues to recover from an ankle injury. The Niners have not revealed a specific timeline for his return, instead choosing to reveal the quarterback was out on the Friday before their game in each of the last two weeks. The 49ers have implied that Garoppolo is week-to-week with the injury refusing to rule out the quarterback early in the week.
One thing that is clear is that the 49ers do not have a quarterback controversy. Nick Mullens has had mixed results in Garoppolo’s absence, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan squashed any notion that he could overtake their injured quarterback for the starting job.
“No, that scenario doesn’t exist, but I don’t think past one game either,” Shanahan explained, per 49erswebzone.com. “So, that’s for you to do, but this is Jimmy’s team. He’s done a hell of a job for us and when he’s healthy, he’ll be playing again for us.”
Shanahan injured his ankle against the Jets in Week 2 but was off to a great start going 14-of-16 for 131 yards and two touchdowns.
Garoppolo Likely Needs to Practice Before He Can Play in a Game
Garoppolo has continued to miss the 49ers’ practices, an indication that the quarterback is not ready to return to the field. Shanahan detailed what he would need to see from his quarterback in order for Garoppolo to return to play.
“He’s just got to be able to be healthy in terms of, he can run around and protect himself and make throws,” Shanahan noted, per 49ers.com. “Anytime we’re dealing with an ankle, you might feel alright when you’re standing there, but can you move around and get into awkward positions without hurting yourself? That’s really what we’d have to see. It would be tough for us to see that and truly judge that if he didn’t get into practice. So, I’m hoping he can get out there for at least one live period, and we have those all the way up until Friday. So, we’ve just got to see that he’s healthy. But that won’t be able to happen if he can’t get enough practice.”
Shanahan on Garoppolo: ‘Jimmy’s Our Guy’
There have been rumblings that the 49ers were not pleased with Garoppolo ever since his performance in the Super Bowl. Shanahan has tried to dispel these rumors on numerous occasions since Garoppolo sustained the ankle injury.
“No, Jimmy’s our guy and if he’s good to go and the doctors say he’s healthy and he can go out there and protect himself and if Jimmy feels confident in doing it and gives us the best chance to win, in that case, then Jimmy will be out there,” Shanahan explained, per Niners Nation. “If Jimmy’s not safe and he can’t protect himself, then we’ll go with Nick.”
There could also be a bit of gamesmanship being played by the 49ers to force their opponents to prepare for two quarterbacks. Whether Garoppolo practices in Week 5 will be a strong indication of his status against the Dolphins.
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