Getty Jimmy Garoppolo down on the ground for the San Francisco 49ers.
When San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that Jimmy Garoppolo’s season was over due to a broken foot, it sent the team’s 2022 prospects into disarray. In real-time, Garoppolo’s injury looked bad, sure, but after initially being diagnosed with an ankle injury, the elevated update to a broken foot, and the announcement that his season was over left the team with just one quarterback on the active roster, Brock Purdy, but far more questions.
Fortunately, one of those questions, Garoppolo’s injury timetable, has been revealed, and in a true example of “good news,” the prospects may force Shanahan to go back on his initial assessment.
According to Nick Wagoner of ESPN, Garoppolo’s medical testing came back better than initially expected, and suddenly, his season-ending status may not be as the 49ers initially feared.
Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Tuesday that doctors concluded Garoppolo did not suffer a Lisfranc injury to his broken left foot and will not need surgery. If his rehabilitation goes well, he has a chance to return in seven to eight weeks, the sources said.
A potential Garoppolo return would depend on whether the Niners advance far enough in the postseason. A seven-week timetable would mean a possible return for the NFC divisional round, and eight weeks would be the NFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl is 10 weeks away.
Will the 49ers be able to survive long enough with Purdy under center for Garoppolo to make his triumphant return in either the NFC divisional round or the NFC Championship Game? Could Purdy run away with the job over a two-month sample size? Only time will tell, but a story that once seemed over just got a surprising coda.
Kyle Shanahan Inferred To A Positive Garoppolo Update On Monday
During his Monday post-Week 13 media availability session, Shanahan was asked about which bones in Garoppolo’s body were broken and if he suffered the Lisfranc injury some initially feared. Though Shanahan didn’t want to definitively comment one way or another, he did provide some hope that was ultimately vindicated in Wagoner’s reporting, as transcribed by 49ers WebZone.
“That’s why they’re still trying to work through it,” Shanahan said. “They were talking about that a lot last night, but it seems like that they’re starting to believe that it isn’t, so that is good news, but it’s not all for sure done yet. Some specialists have to finalize it, so we don’t want to give you guys any false information. They’re discussing all those things, but we’re feeling like it’s starting to get better than that, so we’ll see when we get the official information.”
When Shanahan again addresses the media on Wednesday, it’ll be interesting to see if he further clarifies Garoppolo’s status.
The San Francisco 49ers’ Quarterback Is In Good Spirits
Elsewhere in his media availability session, Shanahan was asked how Garoppolo felt following his injury. Was the 2023 free agent quarterback angry, disheartened, or heartbroken? Per Shanahan, he was in good spirits on Monday.
“We all checked on him last night and then he was in here for the team meeting today, so he was in good spirits today. He came to the team meeting, so he got to see everybody and we all got to talk to him a little bit here.”
When asked to expand the feelings question out to the entire team, Shanahan preached unity in the face of yet another injury setback.
“The team’s in a good spot. I think everyone is very emotional for Jimmy. Our guys, it hits home with all of them, not just at the quarterback position, but all the positions. That’s always all those guys’ biggest fears, but a lot of that stuff we hit up last night, we were able to see them today, but the guys were pretty positive today and upbeat and we’ll be ready to go for next week.”
While only time will tell if San Francisco can stick together and rally around Purdy until Garoppolo is healthy, it’s clear the team’s collective mindset is growth-based, which is the key to success in the ever-changing NFL landscape.