San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo exited at halftime of the team’s Week 4 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
It was not known immediately what led to the veteran quarterback not returning with his offense in the third quarter. Once rookie Trey Lance took snaps under center, reports surfaced that Garoppolo was dealing with a calf injury.
It’s not great news for a quarterback who had missed 23 of a possible 48 games in three full seasons with San Francisco heading into the 2021 campaign.
Immediately following the loss, Garoppolo spoke to reporters in Santa Clara. In the process, he seemed to break some news on the injury front.
“I’m hopeful it’ll just be a couple weeks, something like that,” Garoppolo told reporters. The Super Bowl quarterback also went on to indicate that these injuries are getting old.
Remember, Garoppolo missed all but three games of the 2018 campaign with a torn ACL. He returned to full health in 2019, leading San Francisco to the Super Bowl, before missing 10 games last season due to multiple ankle injuries.
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Have we seen the last of Jimmy Garoppolo with the San Francisco 49ers?
It would be way too premature to conclude this. Rookie No. 3 pick Trey Lance took over under center to start the second half against Seattle. He went on to tally 198 total yards and two touchdowns while completing 9-of-18 passes. That included a 76-yard touchdown strike to Deebo Samuel.
With that said, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has remained steadfast in his support for Garoppolo. One of the primary reasons San Francisco exhausted two future first-round picks to move up for Lance in April was the veteran quarterback’s injury issues. If healthy, there’s no reason to believe San Francisco will turn to Lance.
Even then, there’s going to be boisterous calls for San Francisco to replace Jimmy Garoppolo with Lance under center. That’s especially true if the 49ers (2-2) are not seen as legitimate Super Bowl contenders moving forward.
It’s now all about Garoppolo’s calf injury and how long he’ll miss. San Francisco takes on the undefeated Cardinals in Arizona next week. Right now, it looks like Lance will be under center.
