49ers’ Garoppolo looking forward to ‘summer school’
Jimmy Garoppolo will attend summer school.
On Wednesday, just after the 49ers held their last offseason practice before training camp starts in late July, the quarterback said he will spend part of his time away working with noted throwing coach Tom House and his staff at the 3DQB training facility in Huntington Beach (Orange County).
Garoppolo said he will be joined by some of the 49ers’ wide receivers.
“These next 40 days will be big, meeting with him,” Garoppolo said. “He knows the offense pretty well and it will really help us going forward.”
House, 72, is a former major-league pitcher and pitching coach with a doctorate in sports psychology. His expertise on the science of throwing led him to start working with NFL quarterbacks about 15 years ago, and his pupils have included New England’s Tom Brady, New Orleans’ Drew Brees, Atlanta’s Matt Ryan and Washington’s Alex Smith.
Garoppolo and Brady share an agent, Don Yee, and Garoppolo said his agency connected him with House.
In 2012, when Smith was with the 49ers, he visited House to correct flawed mechanics that were tied to two surgeries on his right shoulder. The procedures had caused Smith to subtly alter his throwing motion to compensate for a lack of strength in his shoulder.
For Garoppolo, the issue isn’t his shoulder but his knee after he tore his ACL in September. However, he said he hasn’t made significant changes to his mechanics this offseason. He indicated his work with House and his staff at the Rod Dedeaux Research and Baseball Institute at USC was about having timing and rhythm when he begins working in team drills in training camp for the first time since his injury.
“Just getting comfortable,” Garoppolo said. “It’s been a little while since I’ve been in 11-on-11 football. So just getting as comfortable as I can as quickly as I can.”
Garoppolo actually took his first 11-on-11 snap of the year Wednesday — by accident. Because of a mix-up, he faced a pass rush and fired a short completion to wide receiver Dante Pettis. The 49ers have kept Garoppolo out of team drills largely to avoid a player falling into his left knee.
“It kind of caught me off guard a little bit,” Garoppolo said, “but I guess it was good to get started on that. That’s what it’s going to be in training camp.”
Shanahan said he planned to have Garoppolo take 11-on-11 snaps without a pass rush, but not everyone got the message.
“I told the D-line to just stand there and put your hands up — no one’s allowed to rush,” Shanahan said. “The animals that they are — that’s why we love them — they couldn’t help it. I saw it, so I just stopped it.”
Garoppolo, however, indicated he was largely in lockstep with Shanahan throughout what he termed an encouraging offseason program.
“Obviously, the longer I’m in this offense and able to talk with Kyle and get on the same page with him,” Garoppolo said, “it’s all going to become a more cohesive and smoother operation.”
Injury report: Right tackle Mike McGlinchey (knee) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel (hip) did not participate in this week’s two-day minicamp, and tight end George Kittle sat out Wednesday’s session with hip tightness. In addition, Shanahan revealed tight end Garett Celek recently had back surgery that likely will sideline him for at least two months. McGlinchey was sidelined after he had a platelet-rich-plasma injection in his knee. Such injections can accelerate the healing of ligaments. McGlinchey, Samuel and Kittle are expected to be available for the start of training camp.