QB Jimmy Garoppolo Press Conference

QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Press Conference – November 10, 2022

San Francisco 49ers

It’s been almost two months since you came in that Seahawks game and how are you as far as kind of rhythm and feeling like your pre-injury self now?

“It’s getting there. The shoulder obviously, you’re always trying to get that better and better, strengthen it, be able to make some of the throws that you used to make, so I don’t think that will ever go away completely. But no, I feel like I’m in a good spot. I feel like our offense as a whole, every week keeps getting better and better and we just have to keep that trend going right now.”

Kyle talked about bringing in RB Christian McCaffrey, now you have WR Deebo Samuel and Christian and RB Elijah Mitchell, all the different skill-players. Does that get you a little extra fired up for Sunday Night’s matchup?

“Yeah, when we got the whole regime out there, it’s pretty fun. We’ve had two good days of practice here. It’s just a matchup nightmare for defenses, it’s pick your poison type of thing. And so it’s my job to get those guys the ball in space, let them go run and be the special players that they are, but yeah, it’s been fun so far.”

What was it like throwing in those early games coming off the shoulder, what it that some throws that normally were automatic before aren’t automatic anymore?

“Yeah, some are like that. Some, you see the window and you’re like, ‘I can make that throw.’ And that split second it goes through your head and you can’t make that throw the same as you used to, but one thing I’ve noticed is my arm just keeps getting stronger in certain areas. Stamina is always getting better each week. And we’re all working at getting better at things and that’s what I’m working at right now.”

How about you’re release, do you have to build that back up to be at the level of quickness that it was before?

“Yeah, that kind of happened earlier in the process of rehabbing everything. It’s more about the strengthening, driving the ball, those types of throws, but the release, yeah, there was definitely a time where I was scared for a second, I lost it, but thankfully it’s still there.”

You were able to throw some a few short passes to Christian last game that they don’t seem like a big deal, but if he has to slow down for them, it changes the whole play and he can’t turn the corner. And it seemed like your timing with him was really good for just as short as you’ve been together. Did you find that you guys were compatible in that way or that he’s just really good at it? Or how would you describe the way you guys got on the same page so fast?

“I think YAC comes from an accurate ball and then what those guys can do after it. The more accurate you are, the easier it is for them to go run with it. And Christian just has a natural ability to feel space and defenses, whether it’s zone or man, he did both two weeks ago. There was a couple times in zone where he would just sit it down real, not slowly, but just he would feel the space, be in the right spot, being quarterback friendly and as a quarterback, it’s an easy throw for you and just have to get him to the rock at that point. But yeah, he has a natural feel for it and we have a couple guys in there that could do that, have that feel, but the more guys you can get with that, the better.”

Guys go down in practice with injuries frequently, but it sounds like what happened with CB Jason Verrett yesterday was particularly difficult just as a team. Can you describe kind of why that is and what the mood was?

“Yeah, it was. It was weird. It was emotional. I don’t know, you see it all the time, but in our locker room, a guy that you’ve been a brother with as long as Jason, you’ve seen him go through the process of injury after injury and just grinding to come back from it. It’s just tough when you see a guy go down like that because we all put in so much work. The time that you put into this game and it’s unforgiving. And when you see something happen like that, it just, it breaks your heart. But that’s football. It’s happened to me, it’s happened to all of us, it’s going to happen to everyone at some point, but you just have to live with it. But yeah, prayers up for him. I love that guy, man. I feel for him.”

Does somebody have to step up and say something to try to switch the morale?

“It’s just part of it. I don’t know. There was a moment there yesterday. Yeah, where it was awkward, kind of quiet, but you just have to move on. As cold hearted as it sounds, that’s just kind of part of the business.”

How do Elijah and Christian complement each other really well and how can Elijah coming back kind of maybe help out Christian getting him in space and maybe putting him out wider in the slot a little more often?

“When you have those two in the game together, that’s a hell of a combo. There’s a lot of combinations that we got. Guys that make it tough on defenses, but Elijah, he has a natural feel for running the ball and Christian does too, but in our offense, Elijah has just been through more plays. So having Christian being able to see that and watch Elijah do some of the plays that Christian hasn’t done yet, I think will definitely benefit him.”

You’ve seen Los Angeles Chargers S Derwin James a little bit before, but watching film of him, how does he disguise what he is going to do? He’s got three sacks on the season. He seems very talented at getting in in multiple ways.

“Yeah, he’s an instinctive football player. It’s hard to describe, he’s very instinctive. Like you might think he’s going this way and all of a sudden, he feels something and he’ll dart the other way and it’s maybe not even part of the defensive scheme, but he just makes a play on it and sometimes you have to tip your hat to it and you just have to always account for him. Pre-snap, you have to know where he is at, see him post-snap where he is going and when he blitzes, he is trouble, so we just have to handle that.”

Is it hard to determine what he is going to do pre-snap?

“Yeah, he makes it tough. He definitely does. He’ll keep you guessing, but that’s just the game within the game.”

Is it one of those things where you don’t know what he’s doing, but they don’t know what he’s doing at the same time?

“There’s part of that, but he makes it work. When the guys making plays you can’t really question it, but you just have to have an awareness for him, really.”

Are you a little happy you’re not going against Los Angeles Chargers DL Joey Bosa?

“Yes, definitely. Yeah, Joey got me a couple times last year when we practiced against these guys, so definitely happy he won’t be out there.”

How about LB Khalil Mack, what do you see from him?

“Khalil, he’s the same old guys as always, man. He’s heavy on that edge. Strong hands, sets the edge well. I remember playing him when he was in Chicago. He’s a game wrecker and we have to account for him, so it’ll be important for us to handle that.”

How much can you take away from those practices at all and then going against Khalil in the past, does that help you as you’re preparing?

“Yeah, you could definitely pull some things from there. You have to be careful because it is a year ago and schemes change, players change, but there’s definitely some things you could pull from that. And yeah, just little things.”