The San Francisco 49ers will have a decision to make on Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason. Kyle Shanahan isn’t ready to say farewell to his quarterback — at least not yet.
“I love Jimmy. I’m not going to sit here and make a farewell statement or anything right now, that’s the last stuff on my mind,” Shanahan said after Sunday’s loss. “But Jimmy has battled his (expletive) off. He battled today. And he did some unbelievable things today and I love coaching Jimmy.”
Garoppolo went just 3 of 9 for 30 yards in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFC Championship Game loss to the Los Angeles Rams, another bitter defeat for a quarterback that’s 35-16 in 51 games as a starting quarterback of the 49ers (regular season and postseason). In the fourth quarter of his postseason career, Garoppolo is 17 of 35 for 178 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions (28.0 passer rating).
Garoppolo’s fourth quarter interception with 1:19 left on third-and-13 at his own 22-yard line may have sealed his fate with San Francisco, who traded two first-round picks in order to select Trey Lance in the 2021 NFL Draft. Lance is the next quarterback of the 49ers, but couldn’t unseat Garoppolo in 2021.
Shanahan won’t make a rash decision based on an interception in a game which the 49ers needed a field goal to win. The final 49ers’ drive, Garoppolo went 1-for-3 for -3 yards with an interception.
“I don’t think he could have done anything else,” Shanahan said. “On the first down he went to the right spot. We got the ball tipped. On the second down, they manned everyone up and he tried to throw it away to the flat and, unfortunately, we lost three yards on it. Third-and-13, it just looked like Aaron (Donald) got in there fast and tried to break away, and tried not to take a sack to make it fourth-and-20 or whatever it would have been. And that happens.
“You get in a situation there and those guys are going to tee off and I thought we had a great chance of not getting into that situation. But credit to them and that’s why they’re still playing.”
