QB Jimmy Garoppolo Press Conference

QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Press Conference – September 22, 2021

San Francisco 49ers

When you go into a week, do you have a pretty good idea if it’s going to be a game plan or a defense that you’re facing, that’s going to allow you to push the ball down the field or if you’re going to have to do more underneath stuff?

“Yeah, you kind of have a good idea. But similar to this last week, you might have an idea going into it and they come out in something different than what you planned for, different than what you saw on tape. So, you always have to take that into account once the game starts, but that’s where I think our coaches do a great job of in-game adjustments.”

Do they explain it to you, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on.’ Do you even need that explanation?
“Yeah, it’s always nice to hear. Whenever [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] or [offensive coordinator Mike] McDaniel come up with new stuff in the schemes, they reiterate it to the coaches. They tell us, and it’s a smooth transition.”

It seemed like in the first week or so of training camp, you’ve had a really good rapport going with both WR Deebo Samuel and WR Brandon Aiyuk. Obviously that’s continued steadily with Deebo into the season. Aiyuk, not so much. What does he have to do to get to that level? Is it about practice and sort of establishing rapport then?

“I mean, not so much, honestly, he does a great job in practice every day. He brings it, right attitude, right mindset. I think it’s honestly just a matter of time. I know there’s a lot of panic in the air, but if you were at practice every day consistently and you saw what he could do. It’s really one of those things that, one week it’s this guy’s game, the next week it’s another’s. That’s just kind of how the offense goes. But I think it’s truly just a matter of time.”

How far back you go into analyzing Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’ quick release and how is that beneficial in this offense specifically?

“I’ve done it for a while now, since my New England days honestly. When I first came out in the draft, I was studying him pretty hard. He’s one of my favorites just to watch and to go against. Whenever you can sneak a peek and just see what he’s doing, dude’s unbelievable. He can do some things with the ball that not many can. So, I think in this offense, it benefits you with the short passes that are kind of an extension of the run game. He does a really good job with those and he doesn’t give the defense anything. He makes it difficult on you. He makes you cover the whole field with his arm and the arm angles he can throw with, it makes it challenging on guys.”

Is that something you and [Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB] Tom [Brady] would at lunch time or whatever, watch him specifically?

“Yeah, whether it was lunchtime or just sitting at the lockers. I can remember times just talking about the little jump pass that he did. He was kind of the first one to do that. And we would try to break that down and ‘like, how the hell is he doing?’ this type of thing. And it was cool. It was just kind of quarterbacks being quarterbacks. Just the talent that he could do things with the ball, with his release angles, his feet, everything, it’s impressive.”

You talked about how Kyle and general manager John Lynch kept you updated with what was going on this offseason with QB Trey Lance and all that. Did you get a heads up that, ‘Hey, we’re thinking about seeing if Aaron Rogers is available’? If not, how did you find that out?

“No. I probably heard it through Twitter or something like that. I honestly didn’t get any inkling of it or anything like that, but that’s just kind of how the offseason goes. Teams are always trying to look for something new, something better and that’s just kind of the nature of the beast, I guess.”

Is there any kind of sense that you guys are going to play your first regular season home game here in a long time? Are the guys kind of excited about that?
“Hell yeah. Yeah, it’s been awhile. The Packers were the last team actually with a crowd here. So, it’s a kind of coming full circle now, but it will be exciting getting the faithful back in the stands. I can’t wait to get all them screaming and everything like that. It’s going to be a fun atmosphere.”

What’s your routine before the game? It’s home and away. It seems like you always run to the opposite end of the field as your tunnel and get the crowd. Do you find a pocket of 49er fans for road games? For home games? Why is that a part of your routine?
“I don’t know. I’ve kind of just always done that. I love the atmosphere. Like you said, even the road games, you’ll find some red shirts in the crowd and they’ll get fired up. I don’t know. It’s just the excitement before the game. You’re rolling, the team is coming out of the tunnel. There’s a lot of energy. You feel the crowd when you do things like that.”

He’s on the other side of the ball, but he’s a captain with you. With DL Arik Armstead, a quiet guy, I would presume more of a leader by example type. But if you have an understanding of his community work, what does that tell you about him as a person and what have you experienced from him as a person in that respect?
“It shows a lot. Just with the time commitment that we have here is a lot. To go out of your way to do above and beyond that little, extra bit. It really shows who that person is. And Arik has been at the forefront of that since I got here. Always he talking about it in the locker room, doing things outside in the community. We’ve got a bunch of guys who do that and it shows the type of people you have in the building.”

Obviously, Deebo has put up some good numbers in the past couple of weeks. You’ve played him since the beginning of his NFL career, how have you seen him progress over the last couple of seasons?

“Deebo has come a long way. He really has, he kind of started off as more of an athlete. Did some running stuff for us, some catching but his route running has come a long way. His leadership on the field, off the field, setting the tone for that receiver group. I think he’s done a great job of that and it’s translated to on field success.”

In the NFC Championship Game, TE George Kittle famously came out with the shirt of you on it. Is there any shirt wars this year? Are we going to see anything like that coming up this season?

“I don’t know. I got George back pretty good with that one. So, I think it’ll be his turn to take the shot, but we’ll see what happens. I don’t know. He always seems to have something up his sleeve.”