After tearing his ACL in 2018, Jimmy Garoppolo made his long-awaited 2019 preseason debut for the San Francisco 49ers on Monday against the Denver Broncos. It turns out, he has some rust to shake off.
On his second attempt of the game, Garoppolo threw an interception off of his back foot on third down.
Jimmy Garoppolo intercepted, throwing off back foot on third down. #49ers #SFvsDEN pic.twitter.com/gRl1FVi2Oj
— Peter Panacy (@PeterPanacy) August 20, 2019
It's worth noting that Garoppolo was dealing with immense pressure via Bradley Chubb. Broncos head coach Vic Fangio sent a standard four-man blitz that decimated the Niners' offensive line. Garoppolo just had to get it out of there.
A lot is riding on Garoppolo to turn the 49ers' fortunes around. Since trading for him in 2017—and witnessing him go undefeated in five games—the 27-year-old is the presumed franchise quarterback in San Francisco, and he's paid like it. In the 2018 offseason, the two parties worked out a five-year, $137.5 million deal.
In 2018, Garoppolo played just three games before tearing his ACL against the Kansas City Chiefs. In that span, he threw for 718 yards and five touchdowns to three interceptions on a 59.6% completion rate.
Since tearing his ACL, Garoppolo has continued to look a bit rusty. Last week, he threw five straight interceptions on five attempts. After doing so, head coach Kyle Shanahan said, via San Francisco's KNBR,
“The defense did great today, and obviously he struggled. You hope to never have a day like… So when you do that, you hope that you practice long enough to give him a chance to play out of it.
Sometimes it’s hard to make the right decisions when you’re fired up and competitive. Usually, you make a bad play, it makes your mind go a little sideways.”
But, hey, struggles happen. At least Garoppolo isn't playing in the regular season. He still has time to prove himself.
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