QB Jimmy Garoppolo Press Conference

QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Press Conference – October 20, 2022

San Francisco 49ers

How much thinking back do you do to the Super Bowl?

“A little bit. You definitely watch it. I mean, that is the last time we played these guys, in a real game. So, I think there is some merit to it, but it was a pretty long time ago too, so you got to be careful with that.”

When you watch it this week, if you’re watching that film and looking at schematics, how do you remove the emotion out of it while you’re watching it?

“I don’t know. I think you just kind of have to, I think is a big part of it. Once you’re watching the film though, I mean, the emotions hit right away, but once you kind of get into it and you’re kind of thinking about the game plan, the emotions kind of just fade away a little bit. So, there’s, obviously deep down, it’s still there, but you just have to move on.”

Did you re-watch it at all before this week?

“The Super Bowl? Way back, yeah, way back when. Yeah. It was a long time ago, since the last time I seen it. But yeah, I had to re-watch it this week. It’s always tough, but it was good for us.”

Does it motivate you at all, re-watching it?

“It’s a different type of motivation. I mean, that motivation comes and goes. Those feelings come and go and this season’s this season now, so it’s just a little different.”

Has the pain of that game lessened over time?

“Yeah, definitely. I think everything heals with time. You still have that feeling inside, but it’s just different.”

There’s a lot of injuries, but the offense still has lots of weapons. You’ve been in offense for five, six years, you make nice throws down the field and yet the offense really isn’t clicking. How do you explain that?

“I think you could go a number of different directions with that, but I don’t know. I think it starts with us as players, we just have to execute better. It sounds pretty cliche, but I mean, there were some easy plays we left out there on Sunday that we should have made, we’ve made in the past. It’s just one of those things, we just got to be on the same page. Do the little things in practice that transfer over to the game. I think that plays a big part of it.”

Is there any more pressure on the offense with all the defensive injuries?

“I think there’s a responsibility. I don’t know about pressure, but just a responsibility that whenever, and that’s what’s made us so good in the past here, whenever one part of the team goes down, the other parts step up, special teams, offense, defense, whatever it is, and you know, we’ve done that a lot in the past and we got to keep doing that and it’ll be on us to do that.”

Piggybacking off that, it seems like you guys have been playing complimentary offense for years. Do you feel now that it’s time to sort of take the leap?

“I mean, you don’t want to get too far away from complimentary football, that’s winning football and that’s won us a lot of games here. So, I think we have to be careful with that. But I mean, there’s a time and place, like this past Sunday we needed to step up as an offense, put more points on the board. We even spotted them seven points on the one play, so, there’s a lot of just little mistakes like that we need to fix.”

I think you guys are averaging 20.3 points a game and it’s one of the lowest that’s been here in a long time. And that’s only a six-game sample. I get that. But do you see the pieces coming together? You’ve talked about being on the same page. Is it getting closer?

“Yeah. Oh yeah. I think you see it at practice too. I mean, there’s just certain plays where there’s a trust factor. I think that plays a big part in any offense, just between the quarterback and the skill guys, there’s a trust factor that, it’s not just given either. You got to earn that stuff, you got to earn it in here, in the locker room out on the field, away from the facility, whatever you do. I think there’s a trust factor that we’re moving in the right direction. We just need to make that happen quicker rather than later.”

It’s National Tight Ends Day on Sunday. Facing Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. Have you seen TE George Kittle different and waiting for that big George game this season?

“George is always different, man. In the best way too. I mean, George is always amped up at practice, ready to roll. He’s the energy guy for us. I mean he showed that on Sunday, he made some plays where you just get the ball in his hands and he’s going to run some people over and the whole sideline is going to feel it. So we’ll try to get him the ball a little bit on Sunday, especially because it’s National Tight Ends Day, obviously, but yeah, whatever we can to get him going.”

The touchdown pass to WR Brandon Aiyuk looked like a really good route and then you had the deep throw to Aiyuk that was a nice throw and he was wide open, but it didn’t count. How good is he playing right now?

“Real well, real well, and you know, there’s still a little ways to go for him, for all of us, but, he’s been showing some stuff that’s kind of what I was talking about, the trust factor. BA, when you put it on film in practice and then you do it in the game too, as a quarterback, that’s the ultimate trust I could have in you. And that route you’re talking about on the touchdown, I mean, he routed the dude. Yeah. And that’s a good corner too, [Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell] 24 is a good player and BA just put him on skates and exploded out of it. I think there’s a trust factor that he’s earned every day and it’s not just from one day of being really good or something like that. It’s every day putting in the work, being consistent and reliable and good things happen.”

I remember a few years ago you and former San Francisco 49ers WR Emmanuel Sanders sort of had that trust factor right away. Is that just because he was a vet and had been through some of the same things as you?

“Yeah, I mean there’s a lot of things that go into it. He came in, he kind of knew the offense from his Denver days, so he picked it up real quick and he was just a natural route runner where BA’s different, he’s long, lanky, he’s not built like most receivers and that’s a good thing too. I mean, he could do some things that you don’t really see every day from normal receivers, but it’s just the trust factor. It’s coming and it’s moving in the right direction. He’s on the right track.”

Have you had any conversations with [DB Charvarius Ward] Mooney talking about the Chiefs defense, what he knows, specifically any one on ones with him to have some intel on the defense?

“Yeah, yeah. We were talking literally throughout this whole week, just little simple things, coverage talk, whatever. But yeah, he’s been awesome with that. He’s a really smart dude.”

What would you say is the main difference so far between the Panthers and the Rams game and the Falcons game?

“The biggest difference? I think each weekend, this season, I mean every week’s going to be different. Your opponent’s different, how your team is, what you’re dealing with as a team is going to be different. But I think just, I don’t know, it’s hard to point to one thing specifically on that. Over three weeks, everything’s going to change throughout the offense, defense, game plan. So yeah, just about everything.”

When the schedule comes out, it’s easy to look to this game, 49ers and Chiefs. Do you as players do the same thing? Either before the season or even this week do you go, wow, this is really going to be a test and kind of show us what kind of team we have?

“Yeah, I think every week is. I know that sounds cliche, but every week is hard in this league, man. Every opponent you play is going to be difficult. The coaches are good in this league. They’re going to scheme you up and make you do things that you’re not comfortable with doing or try to make you have to attack them in different ways. I think every week’s difficult in this league. You just got to come ready and that’s the consistency and reliability that you have to have as a player. And it isn’t easy, but that’s why not everyone does it.”