The Jimmy Garoppolo era in San Francisco may be over.
When the San Francisco 49ers returned to practice on Monday, Jimmy Garoppolo was unable to participate and his status for Sunday is in doubt.
According to Kyle Shanahan, Garoppolo suffered a right thumb sprain when he was sacked by Denico Autry on third and ten with 3:57 left to play in the second quarter of the 49ers 20-17 loss to Tennessee.
Shortly after Shanahan made the announcement to Bay Area media, ESPN’s Adam Schefter sent out the following tweet:
49ers’ QB Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a right thumb UCL tear along with a fracture, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 27, 2021
Shanahan also confirmed recent reports that Trey Lance has been practicing really well of late.
“This last month of Trey has been his best consecutive four weeks of practice since we’ve had him,” said Shanahan. “He’s had a number of good days and he’s had some bad days, like most guys do, but as far as his consistency, I feel this last month has been his best.”
If Garoppolo is unable to play at full strength on Sunday, Lance will make the second start of his career on Sunday against Houston and his first at Levi’s Stadium
Playoff scenarios
By virtue of their loss to Tennessee on Thursday night the San Francisco 49ers no longer control their own playoff destiny.
The 49ers (8-7) currently own the sixth seed, however if San Francisco, Philadelphia (8-7) and New Orleans (7-7, play Miami tonight) all win out, the 49ers would be the team sitting on their couches for the playoffs.
The NFL’s tie-breaking procedure for three or more teams starts with division opponents. Since these three teams are not in the same division this does not apply.
Next up is head-to-head sweep, however the 49ers and Saints did not face each other in 2021 so this does not apply.
That brings us to best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference. Philadelphia would get the nod based on an 8-4 conference record compared to 7-5 for both San Francisco and New Orleans.
To break the tie between San Francisco and New Orleans you need to move to the best won-lost-tied percentage in common games, minimum of four.
San Francisco and Philadelphia have each faced Seattle, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Green Bay. New Orleans would get in over San Francisco based on their 3-3 record compared to 2-4 for San Francisco.
Thanks for the article, Jack.
Can’t wait to see Trey play.
Why are we just finding this out now after a Thursday game?
Perhaps he just hurt his thumb trying to hitch a ride back to the Bay Area after the Titans game.
Make it or don’t make it. 10-7 is not acceptable with this roster. Way too many blown games.
Is this all an incredible coincidence or a Christmas miracle ? Jimmy suffers a mysterious injury after a disastrous performance versus the Titans. Meanwhile Trey Lance is playing his best football. I am just hopeful that Shanahan can design better plays than he did against the Cardinals. Running Trey straight into the OLine doesn’t seem like a great strategy .
This should really help boost his trade value, right?
And BTW, all of you Jimmy Garoppolo apologists who chose to ignore the fact that Jimmy has been the most injury prone starting QB in the league throughout his entire career ….. you all have egg all over your faces, and so does Kyle Shanahan!
In fact, if this is the way Jimmy ends his run with the 49ers, I can’t think of a more appropriate way for this guy to go out, especially after his latest embarrassing prime-time performance singlehandedly put the 49ers postseason in doubt!
SMH! Go jump in a lake, Jimmy!
Que Ribico, and his latest Jimmy Garoppolo – apology tour! I can’t wait to hear his latest excuse for this guy!
Jimmy’s Thursday night, post-game press conference:
Reporter: “How do you asses your own performance?”
Jimmy: “Uh, you know, some good, some bad, I ah, you know, just I’m trying to go through it in my head … we had a chance, I mean in a game like that, you get off to a hot start, we were rolling early on, and kind of just got a little sluggish in the middle there, but, uh I don’t know … it’s tough when you let one like this slip away”
What a sorry excuse for a franchise QB!
No apologies.
But if you think football games are won or lost from the play of one guy, or if you expect an NFL QB to act like some hysterical fan in a presser, I got nothing more to say to you.
Go Trey! But just remember, if you f up it’s ALL on you.
I expect my $27M “franchise QB” to take responsibility for his poor play, because that’s what leaders do! Jimmy is the highest paid player on this team, by a lot, and he’s the QB, which makes him the defacto team leader. Team leaders don’t answer “some good, some bad” when a reporter asks him to assess his performance after an embarrassing display of quarterbacking like we saw from him Thursday night.
It’s no wonder this football team is underperforming this season. Their QB is a PRIMA DONNA! I am sure his teammates are over his apparent indifference when it comes to winning or losing, playing well or playing poorly. He doesn’t seem to care. I went back and looked at his prior post game performances after he’s played poorly and it’s the same thing. He makes excuses, and he acts like playing poorly is just part of the sport. That’s not an attitude a team can win with from their QB, and it’s no wonder Kyle Shanahan has a career losing record and his football teams often can’t seem to get out of their own way!
And BTW, how does Jimmy think he’s helping the team by playing with a torn ligiment and broken bone in his thumb, if it’s true that it happened in the 2nd QTR like Kyle says it did?
Is Trey Lance not even worthy of playing ahead of a QB who has just torn a ligiment and fractured a thumb on his throwing hand?
It’s ludicrous!! Everything about Jimmy Garoppolo is ludicrous! The whole idea of keeping Jimmy around this season, for $27M, is absolutely LUDICROUS, and now you see why!
This football team is far too talented to be 1 game above .500 at this stage of the season, and I don’t understand how anyone can argue against this. The problem is that Jimmy G is the QB, and QB is the most important position on the team!
Do you guys understand why, after a poor performance like Jimmy’s Thursday night, they say things like – “I wasn’t good enough tonight!” and “it starts with me … I need to play better than I did today!”?
Do you guys understand why team leaders often shoulder the blame, even when they actually play pretty well?
Because that’s what LEADERS do. They take the blame away from their fellow players and their coaches, because teammates respect that, more than saying “some good, some bad”! Who says that? When was the last time you heard a team leader say something like that after a game like Jimmy’s on Thursday night?
Jimmy shows absolutely no ability to be self critical, so how is it any wonder that he hasn’t improved a lick in 5 years? He’s the QB! The ball touches his hand on every offensive snap. Players depend on him, and his position, more than any other position on the team. They have to know that he won’t accept anything less than greatness, don’t they!
What they say after the game has no impact on how well they play the next game. All that matters is how they play the next game.
Talking out of your behind, Reasons.
” He’s a hell of a leader out there, and he really inspires us to play our best ball.” – Kittle 11/21/2021
“Oh yeah, Jimmy’s our leader. His ability to lead is great. Everybody shows up for him, we all feed off of him” – Aiyuk 12/14/21
You can write novels about your dislike for JG, but projecting that on JG’s teammates makes you look really really stupid. Like just another idiot fan whose favorite player is the backup QB.
And what would Shanahan’s career record look like without the prima donna?
Jeez Reasons, give it a rest. You are foaming at the mouth now.
You’re sure a class act. I’ll bet your mother is proud of you.
Actually Felix, I am a fed up fan who used to own season tickets at Candlestick Park, starting from 1984!
Bill Walsh would never accept a QB like Jimmy, who clearly doesn’t give a sh_t. Can you imagine if Joe Montana never improved, season after season, and never figured out a way to be dependable? Bill Walsh would have traded Garoppolo to Costa Rica by now, if Jimmy were his QB!
Kyle Shanahan deserves to be 8-7, for signing off on paying $27M to run it back with an undependable QB who has proven he can’t stay healthy, and who throws 5 INT’s in 5 consecutive training camp pass attempts, because he so obviously doesn’t seem to give a sh_t!
You can’t win a Super Bowl with a QB like Jimmy, and he’s already proven that! Everything lined up for the 49ers in 2029, accept one thing, and that one thing was QB! So why would you go back to that well again, especially after spending a franchise record worth of draft capital on a dynamic duel threat QB, who has more talent in his pinky finger, than Jimmy G?
Everything lined up in 2019
Shanahan probably didn’t need a reminder of his 7-26 record when the prima donna wasn’t playing. Yes I went there – tieing wins and losses to one player. See how easy it is to do?
I really think the 7-26 counter is over blown – Cmon Kshan had more impact on ATL reaching the SB – MRyan had his best season under Kshan
Quite being such a Whiner. I have been watching the 49ers since 98 and I have seen is Steve Young end his career, followed by a plethora of horrendous QB’s with two heartbreaking super bowl losses in between. Can’t you just be happy with the 5 Super Bowls you witnessed?
Can’t you just be happy with the 5 Super Bowls you witnessed? HELL NO – that comment just made me 🤮🤮🤮🤮
My dad is Oliver Twist – we stay winning 🥳 🥳 M
Did Foster really ask me why can’t I be happy with the 5 Super Bowl that I witnesses?
It’s been 25 years, James. The San Francisco 49ers – the team that revolutionized offensive football, and dominated for nearly 20 straight seasons, hasn’t won a Super Bowl in TWENTY FIVE YEARS, and now the same QB who has already missed 2 full seasons, and hasn’t improved his game in 5 years, is hurt yet again, at the most crucial juncture of the season!
What I want to know is …. what kind of fan doesn’t care about winning, and simply accepts mediocrity from their QB, who has been holding their team back, for nearly 5 full seasons? That’s the better question!
If I were Jed York, I would dress up like a linebacker, break into Jimmy house, and take back some collateral, because even if Jimmy was home, he would never see Jed as long as he was dressed up like a linebacker.
We’ve lost two supers bowl with two different QBs since the Montana/Young glory years. Am I glossing over those losses? Hell no, but it’s a hell of an achievement to even reach a super bowl. Only 11 different teams have played in a SB going back to that Harbaugh/Kaepernick appearance. I wonder how fans of those 21 other teams feel about losing? Niners are only one of four teams with 2 or more appearances, of only two in the NFC, in that time period.
I’ll quote James Foster, but go one better – Quit being such a f-ing whiner.
Correction: Niners are only one of five teams with 2 or more appearances
It must be terrible to be a “fan” who hates your team and only looks at the negatives. I think real fans enjoy the victories and try to support them in losses. All of the players are world class or they wouldn’t be on a team. They deserve some respect.
No one ignored his injury history. We just didn’t think someone would be so unfortunate to get hurt after everything he has been through. Sucks for him.
“Everything he has been through”?
He took $137,500,000 from the 49ers for less than 40 games worth of work!
“Everything he has been through”? Give me a break!
You do realize that, when you make your QB one of the 5 highest paid players in the league, it means you have less money to pay other players, who actually work their tails off to get better? SMH!
Do you think Jimmy is one of the 5 best players in the NFL? Because that’s the way he’s being paid.
If you don’t think he’s a top 5 player, then I would assume you understand that if you’re paying him like a top 5 players, but he’s nowhere near that level, then he’s actually hurting your team?
Because you see, there is something called a salary cap, so there is only so much money to go around. If you are essentially grossly overpaying your QB, it makes it that much harder to build a championship caliber roster!
Jimmy Garoppolo is doing this team more harm than good! That’s a fact, especially since he can’t even stay on the field!
https://www.nfl.com/photos/ranking-the-nfl-s-biggest-contracts-for-2021
Top 5 contract? Not even close. What do most of those QBs on that list have in common? Hint: SB appearances.
Garoppolo is not one of the 5 highest paid players in the league. He’s not even among the 10 highest paid quarterbacks in the league.
Garoppolo is the 12th highest paid quarterback and 13th highest paid player.
And 7 higher paid QBs on the list have never seen down one in a super bowl.
Well, he was up until recently.
More importantly, he’s probably the highest paid player in the NFL on a per game basis, right?
When you consider salary cap amount and then divide that by the amount of games Jimmy has actually been able to play, he’s by far the highest paid player in the league on a PER GAME basis, and that’s all that really matters!
The fact of the matter is, he’s grossly overpaid. And when the highest paid player on the team, by a lot, can’t even stay on the field, that’s a huge disadvantage. And when you factor in how often Jimmy plays poorly, it’s hard to imagine how the 49ers could have any chance at sustaining their Super Bowl window, and remaining a legitimate Super Bowl contender, with the percentage of their salary cap Jimmy is taking up on a PER GAME BASIS, which is all that really matters in terms of roster building.
He was the most injury prone starting QB in the league, going into this season, so how much sense did it really make to continue paying him after drafting Lance, knowing that it was highly unlikely, based on his injury history, that he would be able to stay healthy this season? The was a huge miscalculation by ShanaLynch! HUGE! And now the 49ers are paying the piper!
“Well, he was up until recently.”
No, he wasn’t.
“…he’s probably the highest paid player in the NFL on a per game basis, right?”
Stop trying to move the goalposts to fit your inaccurate narrative.
“…when the highest paid player on the team, by a lot, can’t even stay on the field, that’s a huge disadvantage.”
Which is one of the main reasons they went out and drafted Trey Lance.
Deshaun Watson and Carson Wentz say hold my beer.
Come on Reasons, there’s plenty of 49reasons for you hate on Jimmy, don’t go making $hit up
Carson Wentz? Now you are making stuff up Ribico! You probably need to check those numbers again. And as for Watson, that situation was totally unpredictable.
I don’t blame management for things that are unpredictable, that would be silly. Nothing about Jimmy’s 2021 season was unpredictable, and that’s the problem.
Now, rather than having a rookie who has 15 games under his belt, heading into week 17, the 49ers are going to have a rookie, making his 2nd career start.
And the 49ers are also going to have about $25M less in cap space next season, than they could have had if they had just bit the bullet, and traded Jimmy, or released Jimmy prior to the season, and started developing their dynamic rookie all along!
DUMB DECISION by ShanaLynch! Perhaps one of the dumbest decisions IMO, that I have ever seen out of an organization. To spend that much draft capital on a player, only to have him ride the bench, while paying another inconsistent, injury prone QB $27M, just to end up 1 game over .500 through 15 games, is ridiculous, and I have been vindicated and proven right all along!
Yeah Carson Wentz. Played a full season just twice in his 5 year career, injuries are the reason Phillie moved on from him, right? Even so, the 9th highest paid QB should have his team at better than 9-6, or that abysmal 1-4 start, right?
For a 28-14 starter with the team, the 2021 season was pretty unpredictable.
Jack, was it realistic for the 49ers to believe they could win a Super Bowl this season with Jimmy?
I don’t know how any 49ers fan can asses the way this season has played out, and come to the conclusion that the 49ers made the right decision, by bringing Jimmy back, rather than going with the dynamic rookie, and then
carrying the bulk of Jimmy’s salary cap number over to next season?
That should have been the plan after drafting Lance, considering both Jimmy’s woeful inconsistencies, even when healthy, as well as his injury history, and likelihood of missing games.
And my point all along was that – this was ALWAYS the most likely outcome, therefore it was the WRONG decision all along!
That’s a FACT!
Rookie is a FACT. The dynamic part….NFL level dynamic? That a FACT? We’ll have to see.
“Jack, was it realistic for the 49ers to believe they could win a Super Bowl this season with Jimmy?”
No. I’ve stated this on numerous occasions. The only non-HOF QB to get back to a Super Bowl after losing their first start is Craig Morton.
The 49ers made the right decision to bring Garoppolo back because they were unable to sign a veteran during free agency and did not want to use further draft capital for a short-term solution.
The money portion of this argument is a non-story. By the time they’d made the trade up to 3 and secured Lance, the majority of the difference making free agents were off the board.
We’ll find out if Houston’ win over the Chargers was a perfect alignment of the planets or are they on a late season rise.
Be nice to see Trey play on Sunday if JG can’t go. If Lance does a good job, perhaps he earns a few snaps against the Rams the following week.
The Chargers were without Joey Bosa.
Well. I’m ready to see Trey play with a wide open playbook. Let him run the same exact plays JG does. Actually more play action and roll outs. Get the defense playing the entire field. But from what I’ve seen KS plays it safe at the worst possible moments and it never goes well for us.
I’d like to see Trey get some significant snaps against the Rams in a couple of weeks.
Given what the rams did to a stationary Cousins, they could throw a party in the 49ers backfield at the expense of Garoppolo.
Inserting a Lance package could help minimize the rams pass rush.
We are just good to run it down their throats. Floyd and Miller can’t handle 4 quarters of Kittle and Williams on the edge, nor do they want to.
I think Trey should play the rest of the regular season games. Only exception is if Week 17 is a must win. Play Trey, rest Jimmy, and get Trey prepared just in case Jimmy can’t go in the playoffs.
Damn – Jimmy you’re killin 💣💣 me –
My first thought was why did he stay in the game, knowing he was hurting throwing the ball.
I really wasn’t looking forward to seeing Trey this season – Why do we keep rushing the process – the whole freaking world is on steroids – no more patience – give me – give me now 🤪🤪🤪
Well – it is what it is
Gluck –
….. Excited – Yes I am – 🎉✨🎉🎈🎁
The pessimist in me say – Unknown QB with 2 games away from clinching the playoffs – 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 F………K!!!!!!
The optimist in me say this is probably the best thing to happen to the 49ers – Kshan is forced to run the ball – like he did last playoff run.
QB runs mixed with the current rushing attack will demoralize any defense. The whole offense is now physical – The QB, RB, WR, OL – we can BULLY them all.
Dolphins rolling.
There you go Jimmy, spared from singlehandedly destroying the Niners playoff chances.
https://youtu.be/_UMIcM66S1M
Honest question- where did this narrative come from that Lance is not good in the pocket and is looking to run first? As far as the games I watched, he always looked to throw the ball downfield, even on scrambles out of the collapsing pocket. Watch on several scrambles this year where he literally runs parallel to the line of scrimmage, faking a run but keeping his eyes downfield to attempt a throw. When one is not there he takes the 1-3 yard gain and gets down or out of bounds
Besides, in his lone start Shanny had him running right into the defense on designed runs. I think I posted a link to YouTube of his plays before and stated that the vast majority of his runs out of a pass formation were designed running plays by Shanny.
Somehow this idea that he doesn’t know how to throw out of a pocket has become his early narrative and I think that’s all on Shanny. Despite being under constant pressure from the turnstiles on the right side of his line he still managed to move around inside the pocket to get throws off late in the 4th quarter when it counted most.
From his head coach who put together that game plan that was run first. You bet it’s on Shannie, no doubt with input from OC McDaniel, QB coach Scangarello – you know, the guys who see him play up close, in person, day in, day out, but apparently less than you see him?
Let’s see if the guys who see him play up close, in person, day in, day out are seeing what you have, and develop a more pocket-centric game plan if Lance is forced into action the next two or more weeks. No way do we win the next two games, let alone anything in the playoffs with that gawdawful Arizona plan from a few months back.
I feel sorry for Trey. He has to deliver at a high level after all the hype.
I wonder if all those people who trash JG will be merciless when Lance breaks…
If that comes about, one of the most vocal trashers here will blame Shannie.
If Lance is making the same bone head mistakes after 4+ seasons like Jimmy.
Yes, he will be criticized. But, Shanahan will take the brunt of it.
Yep, and I will be the 1st to criticize Trey if that’s the case. I gave JG enough time and I’ve seen enough to move on from him and I will do the same for Lance if he doesn’t deliver what a 3 1st rounder and a 3rd should be.
Yeah as a fan base we’ve already had a precedent just like this. Alex Smith was polarizing, many were ecstatic when Kaep had initial success. Then we turned on Kaep as well when it became obvious he had already hit his ceiling and wasn’t going to overcome his limitations.
Hey Jack, who was the guy that was blocking Denico Autry? Oh, the irony-George Kittle.
Jimmy held onto the ball for just about 5 seconds on that play. Almost 5 seconds. That tells me nothing about Kittle’s blocking other than he did his job for long enough, and Jimmy should have thrown that one away.
Or, if he could just take the play that was there right in front of him- Jennings was wide open on a shallow cross between seconds 3 and 5. Instead he decided to jump on the grenade.
Can’t remember when there have been so many posts on the blog since the days of you know who. Goes to show that nothing gets the faithful’s juices going more than a traditional quarterback controversy. Maybe Jack can research the number of months that have passed between QB controversies in the past. Bet it’s shorter than anyone can imagine. One that comes to mind to me is back in the stone ages when Tittle and Brodie were battling it out. Brodie told the story about one game where Red Hickey got so fed up with it that on the day of the game he announced that between Brodie and Tittle, whoever completed the most passes during warmups would be declared the starter for that game. He really said this. (Apparently the concept of “reps” had not been adopted by whoever was running the analytics operation at the time) Long story short – Brodie won . His description of the “battle” between him and Tittle for the starter of the day is priceless but I can’t remember it well enough to characterize it, I thought since we all know that Kyle reads this blog religiously /s, maybe he’ll see this and try it!. Nothing about the “Faithful” is more predictable than QB controversies. I wonder what the over/under is on Lance’s turn.
Thank you a lot to provide individuals with a very spectacular possibility to read critical reviews on this site.
https://disneyplus.logbegin.com/activate-disney-on-amazon-firestick-or-fire-tv/