QB Jimmy Garoppolo Press Conference

QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Press Conference – November 18, 2022

San Francisco 49ers

How much does it take for you to need to wear a glove while you’re practicing?

“I usually don’t. It just depends. If it’s freezing, that’s a different story, but out here it wasn’t terrible. The snow actually makes the ball a little sticky, so I kind of like it in that sense.”

DL Nick Bosa mentioned this trip is testing the team’s fortitude. What are some of the challenges?

“The altitude, obviously. That’ll test you a little bit. You can tell guys are sucking air a little bit, but it’s good for us. We’re going to be playing in it on Monday. I think Nick worded it pretty well, so I’ll just leave it at that. It’s been a good week.”

Is it just practicing outdoors and then going inside, just a lot of different moving parts with the whole situation?

“Yeah. It’s like when we went to The Greenbrier. Your schedule’s not the same. Your routine’s not the same, so you just have to adjust and just roll with the punches a little bit, but we’ve done this before so it’s nothing new for us.”

At a certain point, do these week-long trips take a toll on you?

“If we were to have another one, yeah, it might. Honestly, it’s been pretty fun with the guys. There are some things that you’d like to change, but it sort of is what it is and you have to make the best of the situation. I think we have a good group of guys for that and the positivity’s been there, that’s for sure.”

With the altitude, in terms of the ball coming out, can you tell a difference in terms of velocity?

“Everyone’s been asking me that. I don’t notice a huge difference. Even when we played Denver earlier this year, it really doesn’t fly that different. I think it’s more in the kicking game that you feel it, but, yeah, I haven’t thought about it too much to be honest.”

Why is it that so many of your connections with WR Brandon Aiyuk are over the middle? What is it about the way he runs that route?

“I just run the plays, whatever is called, whatever the route is for him. We just make the best of the situation, make the best of that play and you know B’s got a wide variety of routes that he’s good at. He’s able to get in and out of rotes differently than most receivers, just with the length of his legs. It’s different. He moves differently than pretty much all receivers that are on our team at least. That’s how he separates, so whether it’s going in or out, doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t have a preference, but just whatever’s called, I make the best of it.”

TE George Kittle and LB Fred Warner were saying yesterday, there’s been some practices, especially lately, when Brandon makes four or five crazy catches in practice. Do you remember a specific day recently when that happened and can you tell us what those were like?

“He has them every day. It’s kind of becoming routine, honestly. His arms are so long that I’m learning his catch radius and how it’s just different. He had one today over the middle, I put it high in front of him and he just went and got it. Some of those you do on purpose with the location of the defender and some, he just makes you look good as a quarterback, so you love having a guy like that.”

Does that increase your confidence in throwing a ball that maybe you wouldn’t have in the past when you see that radius?

“Yeah., I can’t think of one off the top of my head right now, but there’s been ones in the past where it looks like he’s covered and you just put it outside of his frame and he can reach it and the DB can’t.”

What’s his personality like on the field? In person, he looks a little bit shy and on the field he looks angry?

“That’s pretty good. It’s somewhere right in between there. B’s not the most talkative guy, but I have no problem with that. He talks when he needs to talk and says things that need to be said, but he plays angry, man. Especially in the run game when he’s blocking those safeties and pinning a D-end, it’s cool having a guy like that on your team.”

What do you mean by the length of his legs? Does having long legs help him separate?

“Yeah, he has long limbs in general. When you watch him run, at least to me, it looks different than other receivers. When you have long legs like that, some receivers can’t really get out of the break, they just get stuck kind of and Brandon has the strength to get out of that, which is just unique.”

You’ve been here for the whole process from when he was drafted until now, he was really hard on himself about that touchdown pass that he dropped, do see that in Brandon’s maturity and his development?

“Yeah, I think if that would’ve happened last year, I don’t know if that would’ve been the same response. It’s a testament to show how far he has come as a player and as a person. This time compared to last year, B, he really is a different person in the locker room, how he carries himself, everything. It’s starting to show on the field. He’ll get more ops and obviously we’d love to have that one back, but he’ll get more ops.”

When you’re deciding to throw, whether you are going to Jauan or Brandon, are you making those calculations in your mind about the guys and what they’re each capable of?

“You don’t really think about it. It’s you just learn the guys throughout practice, training camp, OTAs. You learn the guys, what they can do, what they can’t do. And that’s why sometimes in practice you might throw a ball that’s iffy that you wouldn’t throw in the game, but you learn, like alright this guy can make that catch, he can make this adjustment and just go from there.”

I know you said that your shoulder’s been taking time to get back to full strength completely, do you feel healthier in your legs and every other part of your body in terms of being more willing and capable to get out of the pocked and do some things off schedule?

“Yeah, I feel good. No different than any other year. It was a good offseason, it wasn’t my typical offseason, so I got to save the body a little bit. I think it’s paying some dues right now.”

OL Aaron Banks said it doesn’t matter whether it’s RB Christian McCaffrey or RB Elijah Mitchell that’s behind him, he’s just focusing on doing his. As a quarterback, do you have thoughts about either one of them back there or is it interchangeable?

“I mean basically I see who’s in the huddle, but it doesn’t change anything, honestly. Seeing who’s playing running back, if Juice [FB Kyle Juszczyk] is playing running back it might change a couple things. We have a good group and they all play well together. They get after it and they challenge each other, which makes for a good group.