The NFL spent the offseason (and the start of this year) trying to protect quarterbacks from forceful hits, but today we got an unfortunate reminder that the threat of penalty flags is no guarantee against injury.
In the second half of a fun 49ers-Chiefs game, Garoppolo scrambled down the left sideline and appeared to attempt to plant and cut to stay in bounds for a few extra yards, and it looked like that plant was what caused the injury:
Another angle on the Garoppolo injurypic.twitter.com/qdhNKsLvyG
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 23, 2018
That’s brutal for Garoppolo and for San Francisco, especially because early reports indicate the injury as serious:
The #49ers fear a serious knee injury for QB Jimmy Garoppolo, I’m told. That’s what it appeared, as well, a non-contact knee injury that saw him carted off.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2018
Just watched Jimmy Garoppolo go from the tent straight to the cart in one step. pic.twitter.com/3iJ82wIHKG
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) September 23, 2018
Brutal news all around. Hopefully it’s somehow not as serious as it looks, but regardless, hopefully Garoppolo makes a full recovery. The 49ers gave him a massive contract this offseason for a reason; finding quarterbacks like him isn’t easy.
