QB Garoppolo can appreciate KC’s Mahomes is great, classy
SANTA CLARA >> Sure enough, Jimmy Garoppolo was at the controls as the San Francisco 49ers held their first practice since clinching a Super Bowl LIV berth. He hasn’t missed a practice all season or once been on an injury report. It’s a far cry from last season.
The irony that Garoppolo will face off against the Kansas City Chiefs is not lost on him. They’re the same opponent he sustained a season-ending knee injury against on Sept. 23, 2018.
In reviewing film of that game, Garoppolo acknowledged mixed emotions
“It brought up a lot of memories obviously with the knee,” Garoppolo said. “It’s crazy how
things come full circle. It’s a new year. You can take things from the players but the scheme is a little different this year.”
When last season ended abruptly with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, Garoppolo received wellwishes from Kansas City counterpart Patrick Mahomes after that loss in Kansas City, Mahomes tracking down the 49ers quarterback as he got carted away from the losing locker room.
“I didn’t even know Pat at the time. To come out of his way and wish me luck after the game, he’s a real class act,” Garoppolo said. “He’s awesome. To do something as simple as that, it went a long way.”
Garoppolo used the 49ers’ third exhibition last August to clear a mental hurdle about his reconstructed knee, and that game came in a return trip to Kansas City, after Garoppolo bombed in his exhibition debut at Denver.
“It was important, it definitely was,” Garoppolo said. “The timing of it coming back form the knee. I knew there’d be a bump in the road, Denver happened, and bouncing back in Kansas City escalated things.”
Garoppolo has started every game this season, and the 49ers produced the second-highest scoring average in the league. He already owns two rings from his days as a New England Patriots backup to Tom Brady, rings that are “safe and sound” in Garoppolo’s hometown in the Chicago suburbs.
Garoppolo said he paid “close attention” to how Brady went about his business at Super Bowls, and the best adjective he used to describe the six-time champion: “Calm.”
• Allowing five touchdowns in five defensive series basically doomed the 49ers in their Sept. 23, 2018, loss at Kansas City. How bad was their defense in that 38-27 loss and how improved is it for this rematch.
“Things got a little sideways in the first half that first time around,” defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said. “We’re a little better than we were a year ago and are ready for the challenge.”
A little better? The 49ers rode their top-ranked pass defense to the NFC Championship, and major improvement came from this season’s additions of Nick Bosa and former Chiefs pass rusher Dee Ford.
“When you have edge rushers, it speeds up the quarterback, not that (Mahomes) doesn’t get the ball out fast,” Saleh said. “It changes the game and unlocks the offensive line, and it gives the guys more space inside to operate. Having those guys there at full speed will definitely help.”
Back then, the 49ers edge rush revolved around Solomon Thomas, DeForest Buckner, Cassius Marsh, among others.
Any and all help will be needed to slow down Mahomes, who threw for three first-half touchdowns in that last meeting. It’s not just Mahomes the 49ers need to stop, as was the case last year.
“They’re similar. They’re very explosive,” Saleh said. “Mahomes has gotten better. Every position almost looks like they got their roster from the olympic relay team and threw all on football field, not to say they can’t run routes or catch passes.”
• Bosa is blocking out “all the distraction” awaiting him when he plays in the
Super Bowl so close to his Fort Lauderdale, other than noting: “It’s really awesome. I went to lot of Dolphins games, my dad played for the Dolphins, I played in a couple high school games there and it’s a pretty awesome moment for us.”
Bosa expects to receive “pretty good input” from his older brother Joey, a Chargers defensive end, about what it’s like to face the Chiefs.
Bosa’s game plan against Mahomes: “One of the biggest things keep him in the pocket, not let him escape where he wants to escape, and make him uncomfortable . ... It’ll be a pretty big factor in the game.”
• Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, a two-time Super Bowl veteran, said he told younger players who to visualize the “chaos” with media and other obligations in Miami. As for Sanders’ himself, he can see his first postseason touchdown coming in Miami.
“I’ve already been visualizing everything. As a team, we’ve been visualizing and talking how it’s going to be after we win it. You’ve got some people who say, ‘I’m happy to be in a Super Bowl’ and some who say, ‘Cool, we’re NFC champs.’ We’ve got one game left and have to go handle business.”
So what final score does he envision? “Imagine if I gave a Super Bowl score prediction,” Sanders responded. “All your pens would start moving.”
• Running back Tevin Coleman did not practice and instead worked on the
side with trainers, showing encouraging range of motion in the right shoulder he dislocated in Sunday’s NFC Championship. Also out was wide receiver Dante Pettis (illness).
Illness also kept Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce and safety Jordan Lucas out of their practice, while defensive tackle Chris Jones (calf) remains limited.
Strong safety Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) and linebacker Kwon Alexander (pectoral) were limited and wore non-contact jerseys. Alexander has been in that blue jersey since he returned to practice three weeks ago, and Tartt was in most of December after his Dec. 1 rib fracture, which he “irritated” Sunday.
Ford (quadriceps, hamstring) looked solid participating in position drills, as did tight end George Kittle, who did not practice last Wednesday because of ankle soreness.
• Left tackle Joe Staley is in the Super Bowl for the second time in his 13-year career. Still looking for his first Super Bowl ring, what did he do with his 2012 season’s NFC Championship ring? Said Staley: “I absolutely have no idea where it is. It’s probably somewhere. I hope it’s somewhere.”
Garoppolo said he hasn’t worn his Super Bowl rings since either the ring ceremony or when he’s visiting a school. “It’s another great opportunity to be back to it,” Garoppolo added. “These don’t come around very often so you have to take advantage of them.”
Another one of the few 49ers with a Super Bowl ring is Saleh from his time as a Seattle Seahawks assistant? “It’s hiding somewhere in a safe. I don’t wear it. It’s a Seahawk ring,” Saleh responded.
• The best way to describe defensive line coach Kris Kocurek’s intensity: “Like a racoon on meth,” Saleh said, quoting former NFL assistant Jim Washburn.
• Staley said the 49ers’ run game is a “complete team effort,” complimenting the receivers ability to commit and how that benefits their passing game, too.