People often say, “Don’t bring your work home with you.”
Well, that’s easier said than done for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, whose wife, Mandy, evidently is as excited as the rest of the Bay Area about San Francisco acquiring quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the New England Patriots for a 2018 second-round draft pick.
“I know everyone is very excited and wants to see him play,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday. “Including myself. Including our coaches and players. Including my wife. I get that. I’m very well aware of that.”
Garoppolo’s time will come. The 49ers acquired him in the hopes he’ll be their franchise quarterback for years to come. But C.J. Beathard remains the starter for now, with Garoppolo serving as San Francisco’s backup for at least another week. And Shanahan has been unwilling to reveal when exactly the 49ers, who enter Sunday’s game against the New York Giants with an 0-9 record, will turn to the new guy.
“I am very eager and excited to see him out there,” Shanahan said. “That doesn’t mean that’s the right decision. That’s what I’m trying to balance out. If I just went off impulse and feeling, I would have done that the very first day. The very first second.
“But I’m trying to do what’s right for Jimmy and what’s right for our team. A lot of things go into that. It’s not just something I can set a date on or plan. It’s something I have to evaluate.”
So, how’s this all going over with Shanahan’s wife?
“I mean, she’s getting used to my comments now. She’s understanding,” Shanahan said. “I had to simmer her down a little bit. When you make a trade, everyone feels the same. Everyone comes in the next day, ‘Oh this is what it’s going to be the rest of the year.’ Trying to explain myself to you guys, I have to explain myself to her, too. She understands it more now than she did the first day. I’m chipping away at it.”
Given the anticipation, Mandy in his ear and his acknowledgment that Garoppolo hopefully will start “sooner than later” even if it’s not this week, Shanahan might soon have no other choice than to call for the official beginning of the Jimmy G era.
