San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will not require surgery on his broken left foot after all, ESPN reported, making the veteran a possibility to return for the playoffs.
Because Garoppolo’s injury was not a Lisfranc fracture, doctors reportedly determined that he was able to avoid surgery and follow a course of rehab to return in seven to eight weeks.
That timetable would allow for Garoppolo to get back on the field in late January and a portion of the NFL playoffs. The divisional playoffs are scheduled for Jan. 21-22 and conference championships are Jan. 29. Super Bowl LVII will be played Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz., 10 weeks after Garoppolo was injured.
In the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the visiting Miami Dolphins, Garoppolo was sacked by a pair of Miami defensive players. The knee of Dolphins linebacker Jaelan Phillips appeared to land on the side of Garoppolo’s left foot.
Garoppolo was carted from the sideline to the locker room. After the game, coach Kyle Shanahan said the diagnosis was a broken foot that would require season-ending surgery.
“Just hearing it is pretty crushing,” coach Kyle Shanahan said at the time. “We know what Jimmy’s been through, how hard he’s worked at this.”
For now, the Niners are turning to rookie seventh-round selection Brock Purdy, who entered for Garoppolo and led San Francisco to a 33-17 win over Miami. It was Purdy’s first extended NFL action.
Trey Lance was lost for the season to an ankle injury in the second game of the season. Shanahan ruled out the possibility of Lance being activated sooner than expected.
Baker Mayfield was seen as a short-term option for the 49ers after the Carolina Panthers waived him on Monday, but the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams claimed Mayfield on Tuesday to address their own quarterback concerns. ESPN reported that the Niners did not put in a waiver claim for Mayfield.
–Field Level Media