After starting his San Francisco 49ers career 4-0, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has reinvigorated Bay Area football this winter.
That had John Lynch “flying high” after San Francisco’s Week 16 win over the AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars, according to The MMQB’s Albert Breer, who spoke to the 49ers’ general manager.
Among other topics, Lynch relayed what Patriots head coach Belichick told him about Garoppolo before trading the quarterback to the 49ers for a second-round draft pick.
“Bill, beyond thinking this kid was a special football player, thought he was a special person,” Lynch said. “And he just said, ‘You’re gonna love the player, guys respond to him.’ I didn’t know what that meant. You think you know, but (we saw) that right away, even when he wasn’t playing. And mind you, C.J. Beathard’s a very popular player on this team, and we were liking the direction we were going. …
“(Jimmy) just had command, he became a leader instantly. … And you kept hearing that from people at New England — the guys love him. You don’t really know what that means until you see it, and right away we saw it.”
Lynch said the Patriots’ unwillingness to trade Garoppolo during the offseason ultimately made him more appealing when he became available. The Patriots obviously thought highly of Garoppolo, but they chose Tom Brady over him.
