San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch announced Tuesday that backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is cleared to practice, but he’s working off to the side “in his best interest.”
“We’ve just made the decision that it’s in his best interest to be off to the side and that was made mutually,” Lynch said in a recent press conference. “It was made with Dr. [Neil] ElAttrache, but he has no restrictions and I’m watching him throw out here right now. He looks pretty good.”
Here’s some footage of Garoppolo working out Tuesday:
https://twitter.com/NitensonBrian/status/1554601426550005760
The 49ers have committed to Trey Lance as their starter this season, yet they still haven’t traded Jimmy G. Garoppolo wants to be traded, but it seems as if the 49ers haven’t yet found a partner for that trade. Lynch had praise for what Garoppolo’s done in workouts, though.
“Jimmy’s doing a really good job,” Lynch said. “Kind of building his stamina in the throwing program that was prescribed all along and working out really strongly and aggressively, but yeah that situation is kind of where we’ve described it before. We’ll stay patient through this one as well and come to a great conclusion for everybody involved.”
Garoppolo may not be as athletic as Lance, but he has had his own successes. He threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 20 touchdowns this past season with a 68 percent completion rate, and he and the 49ers reached the NFC Championship Game (he’s seen at top after that loss in January). Now, however, he’s been sidelined in favor of Lance, and he’s working out alone, presumably to try and minimize the chances of an injury and preserve his trade value. We’ll see if he does wind up being traded.
[Pro Football Talk; photo from Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports]
