Jimmy Garoppolo took another small step in his return for the 49ers. He successfully got through surgery, and now he’s returned to the 49ers’ facility prior to the team’s Week 7 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams.
Garoppolo obviously won’t be participating in any practices or football activities, but head coach Kyle Shanahan said it’s still good to have the franchise quarterback around the team.
“Yeah, he got back from his surgery,” Shanahan said. “He got back on Tuesday so since Wednesday he’s been in all of the team meetings and stuff. It’s been good to have him around. He’s still on his crutches and everything so he’s not going out to practice or anything. But, it was good to see his face.”
The 49ers’ signal caller tore his ACL late in a Week 3 loss in Kansas City. He hasn’t been back with the team or spoken to media since then.
San Francisco is 0-3 in his absence with backup quarterback CJ Beathard committing seven turnovers in his three starts.
Garoppolo isn’t a stranger to watching 49ers games from the sideline. He spent the early portion of his time in red and gold watching as Beathard conducted the offense. Garoppolo was traded prior to Week 9, and didn’t step on the field until the final seconds of Week 12.
Things aren’t entirely back to normal yet though. Shanahan said Garoppolo looks like a guy who’s been gone a long time, and has a long way to go before he’s around the facility again full time.
“Definitely he’s grown his beard out a little bit,” Shanahan said. “You can tell he’s been sitting in a hospital or a bed most of the time. But, it’s good to have him back in the building. He’s got to make a few more strides just healing from the surgery and things like that and we’ll get him around a lot more.”
Getting Garoppolo around more will help normalize things for a 49ers team that’ll take any wins it can get at this point. It speaks volumes that the team hasn’t completely fallen off the rails after the loss of their starting quarterback. They’ve continued competing without him, and getting him back in the building should only be a positive.
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