Garoppolo personifies Niners’ resilience
GREEN BAY, Wisc. — One last time?
For the third straight week, the 49ers face the end of their season.
For the third straight week, their embattled starting quarterback faces the end of his career in a 49ers uniform.
Jimmy Garoppolo has become emblematic of his team. Written off months ago. Has battled back to relevance. Flawed. Tough. Gritty.
It will take everything the 49ers have on Saturday night to pull off the upset on the road over the Packers, the NFC’S top seed and heavy favorite. But the 49ers, and Garoppolo, have taught us not to bet against them.
“I think your experiences make you who you are,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Being 3-5, I don’t wish that on anyone. But things you would label a bad thing, they can be such a good thing if you get through them.
“It makes your whole team so much stronger. And we got through a lot of stuff this year and I feel that struggle has made us who we are. That’s why I feel like there’s not a situation we’re ever going to panic in. We believe that we have a chance to any game we play until there’s zero on the clock.”
Shanahan was talking about the 49ers as a collective unit. But he could also be talking about his quarterback. The one he wanted to replace with Saturday night’s opponent, Aaron Rodgers. The one whose replacement, Trey Lance, is already sitting on the 49ers’ bench.
The one who has become a social media meme for his ability to play through injury and pain. This week, Garoppolo is not only playing with a ripped-up thumb on his throwing hand — which will likely require surgery — he’s playing with a shoulder sprain suffered when he was hit by Dallas and tried to protect his thumb on the way down.
Yet he’s expected to start. Offensive coordinator Mike Mcdaniel said it would be like “pulling teeth” to get him out of the lineup. Garoppolo’s new injury has led to Twitter jokes citing “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”: “’Tis but a scratch.” “It’s only a flesh wound.” And faux announcements such as “The 49ers announced that Jimmy Garoppolo’s right arm was amputated yet he is expected to be the starter.”
When asked what’s bothering him more, shoulder or thumb, Garoppolo said, “Yes.” With a laugh.
Knowledge of the shoulder sprain, which was announced
Monday, informed why he looked so much worse in the second half. But he didn’t get much sympathy from his head coach.
“He had two throws that were off and I personally don’t think it had to do with his shoulder,” Shanahan said.
Garoppolo, when asked directly, conceded that, sure it probably impacted some throws. But he didn’t make excuses.
“It definitely had some impact, but if I’m out there and I’m put in that spot I still have to make the plays,” he said. “So no excuses or anything like that. … We’re all dealing with stuff now.”
Yes, but not many quarterbacks are dealing with two injuries to their throwing arm.
On Friday, Shanahan said Garoppolo looks “great” in practice and finally conceded that, yes, injuries to the starting quarterback may be more problematic than other injuries.
Meanwhile, all Garoppolo does is win.
“Jimmy could have tapped out and said, ‘I can’t go anymore, you guys are on your own,’ ” George Kittle said. “But he didn’t. He took a week off and came back and has played at a very high level since.
“It’s what you appreciate about him. He doesn’t give up. Just keeps grinding. He continually leads this team to victories and gives us the opportunity to play more football.”
That he does. Garoppolo’s record as a 49ers starter is now 31-14, a .689 winning percentage. His winning percentage for the 49ers in the playoffs so far is .750, winning three of four starts.
Starting this season, some fans frustrated by Shanahan’s insistence of sticking with Garoppolo assumed that sticking with Garoppolo would derail the 49ers’ season.
Instead, here are the 49ers, in the second week of the playoffs, succeeding not in spite of Garoppolo but because of him. And taking on his persona.
They are gritty, flawed, tough. And fighting to live on one more week. Just like their quarterback.