Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo no longer are teammates, but that doesn’t mean the New England Patriots quarterback can no longer extend his wealth of knowledge to his former understudy.
Garoppolo currently finds himself in an unideal situation that Brady tackled a decade ago: recovering from a torn ACL. The 27-year-old sustained the injury in Week 3 of the 2018 campaign, abruptly ending what was supposed to be his first full season as the San Francisco 49ers’ starting quarterback.
Brady, who tore his ACL in the Patriots’ 2008 season opener, reunited with Garoppolo last weekend at Churchill Downs, as the two were among a number of past and present NFLers attending the Kentucky Derby. Garoppolo admitted to asking Brady for rehab advice at The Run for the Roses, but he’s unsurprisingly not interested in spilling any details about their conversation.
“I’ve got to keep that confidential, but I did actually talk to him about it for a little bit,” Garoppolo said Wednesday, per The Mercury News’ Cam Inman. “He’s been through everything, seen everything, so whenever I can pick his brain, it’s a good thing.”
Garoppolo did, however, offer some insight into the status of his rehab.
“It’s a combination of reactionary stuff. That’s a big part of it,” Garoppolo said. “When you’re doing rehab, everything is, ‘Do this movement, do this.’ Well, in the game, you’re more reacting than thinking. Getting used to those type of movements. We’ve been doing some of them and patterning them. It’s coming along well.”
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan noted in late March, per NBC Sports Bay Area, that he’s hopeful Garoppolo will be a full-go when training camp gets underway in late July. San Francisco certainly will need Garoppolo at full health, as it will require all hands on deck to contend in a competitive NFC West.
For future comparison’s sake, Brady completed 65.7 percent of his passes for 4,398 yards with 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his first season post-ACL tear.
