Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers took a huge hit Sunday when franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a torn ACL while fighting for extra yards against the Kansas City Chiefs.
Garoppolo has been criticized by analysts and opposing players for not doing the smart thing and getting out of bounds, but his head coach is trying, for both the team and Garoppolo, to find the silver lining in the quarterback’s 2018 season ending early.
“Those guys are competitive guys who want to do whatever they can to win the game,” Shanahan said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “You’re not assuming by staying in bounds you’re going to tear your knee up. … But I think that’s something where Jimmy will probably look at differently going forward because I know he’ll remember this for the rest of his life. Nothing against him. This happens with everyone. You see it every Sunday. I just think it’s a reminder for everyone why that is the obvious coaching point and why you need to stick with it.”
Shanahan thinks his young star still can learn a lot this season despite being sidelined.
“I know Jimmy’s really down about it. So are we. But it’s still going to be alright. This is part of the league, it’s part of the NFL, it’s part of life. And you have adjust to it. And you got to make the best out of it,” Shanahan said, via The Sacramento Bee. “You can always make things a positive. It’ll help him to sit and watch more, especially to sit there, watch C.J. go through this. When we get into the offseason, we’ll get into an early start with him going through his rehab and everything. I think it’ll make him that much more hungry next year. There’s not a doubt in my mind that he’ll come back and be the exact same guy.”
