Niners saving savior for when it counts
Here is your Jimmy G. highlight from the 49ers’ first exhibition game: He didn’t get injured. After an offseason that included the signing of a record-breaking contract, frenzied anticipation by fans, swooning coverage by one media outlet calling him “Superman in Disguise,” and a leaked TMZ video of a date with an adult-film star, Jimmy Garoppolo finally was back on a football field. For about four minutes. And it wasn’t magic. The delirium in the past seven months might have led one to expect a quick touchdown drive, a rainbow appearing in the dusk over Levi’s, a packed stadium full of devoted fans holding hands and a sprinkling of fairy dust.
But that’s not how the drudgery of the NFL preseason works.
Thursday’s brief appearance by the 49ers’ new quarterback savior didn’t count for anything. To their credit, most of the 49ers’ seasonticket holders and other interested parties seemed to understand the utter lack of importance. Levi’s Stadium was only about a third-to-half full during Garoppolo’s lone drive — and that included about 50 percent Dallas fans. Most folks wisely opted out of dealing with brutal Thursday evening commute traffic to watch a scrimmage.
Still, despite the sensible response to the NFL’s terrible policy of charging full freight for a practice, one might have expected a tad more interest. After all, this is supposed to be “the year.”
Even the stadium itself didn’t seem fully committed to Thursday’s event. The
soccer field markings from last week’s AC Milan-Barcelona International Champions Cup game were still clearly visible.
After the Cowboys scored a touchdown on the opening drive, Garoppolo took the field. On a nine-play possession, he handed off three times to running back Jerick McKinnon, with little success. The Cowboys’ defense quickly sealed off any running lanes. Of the six passes Garoppolo threw, he completed three: one to Richie James for 9 yards, another to Marquise Goodwin for 18 and a 7-yarder to McKinnon. The first two converted third downs to keep the drive going, but the final completion wasn’t enough and the 49ers’ first possession ended at the Dallas 45-yard line.
And then Garoppolo’s night was done, before he had barely worked up a sweat. His helmet came off. His backup — C.J. Beathard — went in.
Beathard, who started five games last season and got the 49ers their first win of 2017, played the rest of the first half and led the 49ers on a touchdown drive. In the third quarter, Beathard gave way to Nick Mullens, who spent last year on the practice squad.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan already had indicated Garoppolo wouldn’t play much. That’s the expected strategy in the first preseason game and obviously the wise move. The only real thing that happens in an NFL preseason game is injury. And the 49ers endured plenty on Thursday.
Before the first quarter was over, four key players — linebacker Malcolm Smith, defensive end Solomon Thomas, tight end George Kittle and running back Matt Breida — had left the game with injuries. And more injuries kept coming after that.
The franchise had no reason to risk the health of the man it has anointed to lead the 49ers into the future. The 49ers don’t have to test drive Garoppolo or analyze or evaluate him. They signed him to a five-year, $137.5 million contract in the offseason, briefly making him the highest-paid player in the league until he was surpassed by Kirk Cousins, who then was topped by Matt Ryan.
Garoppolo hasn’t ascended merely to the top of the pay scale. He’s also moving up the celebrity ranks. He reported to camp at the end of July, a week after TMZ cameras caught him on a date with adult-film star Kiara Mia, which got plenty of play on social media. Garoppolo said the attention was “a good learning experience . ... I’m under a microscope.”
Surely, the man who played behind Tom Brady for 3½ seasons already knew that: NFL success plus good looks plus huge contract equals microscope. All the time.
On Thursday, Garoppolo didn’t exactly pick up where he left off 221 days earlier, when the 49ers beat the Rams on New Year’s Eve to win their fifth straight game and send expectations for 2018 soaring.
But he accomplished the most important thing: He didn’t get hurt. If he can do that for the next three meaningless games and be ready to go Sept. 9 in Minnesota, then his preseason will be a success.