49ers GM John Lynch can't 'foresee' releasing Jimmy Garoppolo
Now, with the quarterback carousel mostly complete, Lynch admitted that the front office is holding still on the Garoppolo front until a trade materializes. The GM even noted that Garappolo could enter the season on the 49ers roster, and he rejected the notion that the organization would release the veteran QB.“I don’t foresee that,” Lynch said. “He’s too good a player. I think Jimmy will be playing for us or will be playing for someone else. He’s too good of a player not to be.”Naturally, this wasn’t the intended plan after the 49ers gave up a boatload of picks to draft Trey Lance during last year’s draft.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo started out Sunday’s NFC Wild Card game against the Dallas Cowboys hot.
© Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo The embattled signal-caller completed eight of his first 10 passes, leading the 49ers to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter of action.
But, as has been the case throughout his up-and-down career with the 49ers, a lack of consistency plagued Garoppolo throughout the remainder of the game. This included throwing an ugly second-half interception that brought Dallas closer after falling down 23-7.
49ers CEO Jed York open to keeping Jimmy Garoppolo even as a backup?
It's unclear what kind of trade market exists for the 30-year-old who recently played in the NFC Championship Game but also likely won't be completing meaningful throwing exercises before June. At this point, Shanahan and company may ultimately elect to allow Garoppolo to compete with Lance even if the latter begins that process as the club's QB1. Subscribe to Yardbarker's Morning Bark, the most comprehensive newsletter in sports. Customize your email to get the latest news on your favorite sports, teams and schools. Emailed daily.
We’re now hearing more information regarding Garoppolo heading into Saturday’s NFC Divisional Playoff clash with the Packers in Green Bay.
As was noted earlier in the week, the quarterback suffered a right shoulder sprain during the game. That’s in addition to the significant thumb injury Garoppolo is playing through after missing Week 17’s win over the Houston Texans.
According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, this latest injury is something to pay attention to as San Francisco vies for a second NFC Championship Game appearance in three seasons.
“Jimmy Garoppolo’s shoulder and torn thumb are something to watch heading into this weekend,” Rapoport said on the "Pat McAfee Show" Tuesday.
Impact of Jimmy Garoppolo injury on the San Francisco 49ers
Video: Rapoport: Garoppolo has 'a sharp, searing pain' in his thumb on every throw (NFL)
49ers All-Pro TE George Kittle praises toughness of Jimmy Garoppolo
Garoppolo has been playing through a painful thumb injury, and Kittle had nothing but praise for the QB.Garoppolo has stayed atop the depth chart when healthy but missed the Week 17 win over the Houston Texans with a Grade 3 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and a chipped bone, and he then suffered a "slight" sprain to his right (throwing) shoulder in the second quarter of this past Sunday's playoff win at the Dallas Cowboys. Kittle offered praise for his banged-up quarterback while speaking with reporters Wednesday ahead of this coming Saturday's must-win matchup at the Green Bay Packers.
Garoppolo suffered said injury in the second quarter of Sunday’s win over the Cowboys. Following the injury, Garoppolo struggled to do a whole heck of a lot in the second half. That included him completing 5-of-11 passes for 39 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception in the final two quarters. In the first half, Jimmy GQ had completed 11-of-14 passes for 133 yards.
This is no small thing set to go into a hostile environment in Green Bay Saturday night. It’s almost literally going to be the “Frozen Tundra” at Lambeau Filed with the temperature set to get down to as low as one degree. You don’t need to be a doctor to realize how a shoulder injury can impact a quarterback in these conditions.
It’s also important to note that Garoppolo has struggled with turnovers recently. He’s thrown two touchdowns compared to five interceptions in his past three starts. That came after Garoppolo tallied a 12:4 TD:INT ratio in his previous eight starts.
49ers having Trey Lance mimic Aaron Rodgers during practices ahead of showdown with Packers
As San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner said, asking an unproven first-year pro to imitate arguably the best quarterback in the game today is "a tall task" at any point, let alone during the postseason. "It's one of those situations where you don't really feel Aaron Rodgers until you're out there against the man himself," Warner added about the betting favorite to win MVP honors for the 2021 regular season. "You can watch all the tape you want, think you've got him figured out. But you've got into the game and get into the flow of things to really get things going."When these teams last met in Week 3 on Sept.
If the underdog 49ers are going to have a chance here, they need Garoppolo to play at his best. If he’s nowhere near 100%, there’s also a chance we see rookie No. 3 pick Trey Lance come Saturday night. As we witnessed with Mac Jones’ performance for the New England Patriots in their blowout AFC Wild Card loss to the Buffalo Bills, having a rookie play this deep into January typically isn’t a good sign.
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More must-reads:
- 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo has sprain in throwing shoulder
- 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo 'got really excited' ahead of fourth-down penalty
- The 'Four touchdowns in an NFL playoff game' quiz
Related slideshow: The greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history (Provided by Yardbarker)
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The greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history
Here are the greatest backup quarterbacks in NFL history. In an effort to not include overqualified QBs, only passers who started less than a third of their teams' games are eligible.
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Derek Anderson
Browns 2.0 is 2-for-22 in playoff qualification, but its closest near-miss involved Anderson. Romeo Crennel benched Charlie Frye during a Week 1 loss in 2007; Anderson started the next 15 games. His first start: a 51-45 Browns conquest featuring five touchdown passes. The 2005 sixth-round pick ended that season with 29 TD passes — second-most in Browns history — and a Pro Bowl berth. After Brady Quinn could not supplant Anderson as Cleveland's starter, he later became Cam Newton's backup for seven seasons. His 2-0 starter record in 2014 was crucial in a 7-8-1 Panthers team's playoff journey.
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Charlie Batch
Batch posted back-to-back winning records as the Lions' starter in 1999 and 2000, coming off the bench in '99 to lead them to the playoffs and helping them to the postseason precipice in 2000. But an 0-12 Detroit start in '01 led to Batch's release and preceded one of the longest backup-QB runs in NFL history. Batch signed with the Steelers in 2002 and stayed for 11 seasons, playing until age 38. The Pennsylvania native signed seven Steelers contracts, overcame numerous challenges to his QB2 role and led Pittsburgh to six wins in nine starts — including a 2-0 mark for a 2005 team that needed both wins to allow a Super Bowl march.
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Zeke Bratkowski
Bratkowski's 1950s and early-'60s interception sprees with the Bears and Rams did not justify his second-round draft slot, but a 1963 move to Green Bay both changed the quarterback's trajectory and provided the Packers vital Bart Starr insurance. Bratkowski stepped in on many occasions during the Packers' ensuing NFL three-peat from 1965-67, with the team going 8-1 when he started or games in which he replaced Starr in one-score games. He threw for 248 yards in the Packers' Western Conference playoff win over the Colts in 1965 and outdueled ex-teammate Roman Gabriel in a December 1966 win over the Rams.
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Bubby Brister
Although Brister enjoyed a three-plus-season run as the Steelers' starter, which peaked with Chuck Noll's final playoff berth in 1989, the 16-year veteran had a lengthy second NFL life as a 1990s backup. In Philadelphia, Brister first replaced Randall Cunningham after his midseason ACL tear in 1993, starting eight games with a 14-5 TD-INT ratio. However, his most notable backup work came at age 36 in Denver. John Elway missed four games in 1998; Brister threw 10 TD passes and kept the Broncos unbeaten until December. Denver scored 30-plus points in three of those games, and Brister helped an all-time great team repeat as champions.
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Cody Carlson
Warren Moon's backup for seven seasons, Carlson mostly kept the Oilers' high-powered car on the road. Houston made the playoffs from 1987-93. Four of those seasons featured at least one Carlson win in a spot start. The Oilers went 10-4 under Carlson, a third-round pick out of Baylor, from 1988-93. Carlson made six relief starts in 1992, twice posting 300-yard games and quarterbacking four wins. He led three game-winning drives that season. While Carlson failed as Moon's successor in 1994, he was a steady backup during a quality Oilers stretch.
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Virgil Carter
The Bengals were dealt a tough blow when potential franchise quarterback Greg Cook suffered a career-ending injury barely a few games into his run. After more injuries at QB, Cincinnati turned to Carter in 1970. The mobile ex-Bears sixth-rounder became the guinea pig for Bill Walsh's future West Coast Offense, piloting the Bengals from 1-5 to a playoff berth. Then a Bengals assistant, Walsh used a short-pass system to help Carter. In 1971, Carter led the NFL in completion percentage. He gave way to first-rounder Ken Anderson in 1972 but hung around as an NFL backup until 1976.
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Todd Collins
Longevity counts in QB2 annals; Collins supplied this better than most. Elvis Grbac's Michigan Wolverines successor played 16 NFL seasons, beginning as Jim Kelly's Bills heir apparent but settling in as a backup for most of his career. Collins initially helped the 1996 Bills make the playoffs, filling in for Kelly thrice, and spent much of the 2000s as Trent Green's seldom-seen Chiefs backup. Collins resurfaced in a key spot at age 36, filling in for Jason Campbell and going 3-0 with a 5-0 TD-INT ratio to lift Washington to the 2007 playoffs. Collins threw two TD passes in Washington's first-round loss in Seattle.
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Chase Daniel
Daniel has banked nearly $40 million and has done so without ever being signed to start for a team. Perhaps this era's quintessential NFL character-actor equivalent was a Mizzou Heisman finalist before backing up Drew Brees, Alex Smith, Carson Wentz, Brees again, Mitchell Trubisky and Matthew Stafford. Daniel's 11-year stat line: 178 completions on 261 attempts, eight TD passes, seven INTs. He completed 70% of his passes in each of his two-game samples with the Bears from 2018-19; he helped their 2018 team to an NFC North title. Still going strong in Year 13, Daniel is now set to mentor Justin Herbert in Los Angeles.
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Gary Danielson
Danielson played 15 pro seasons, the first two in the short-lived World Football League. The future college football analyst caught on with the Lions, with whom he played nine seasons. Despite playing in the final era for soaring INT totals, Danielson finished his career with an 81-78 TD-INT ratio. He took the Detroit starting job midway through 1978 and dropped a Lions-record five TD passes on the Vikings. Danielson split time with Eric Hipple in Detroit's NFC Central title year in 1983 but threw five INTs in a playoff loss to the 49ers. Danielson finished his career as Bernie Kosar's Browns backup.
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Doug Flutie
Almost overqualified for this list but not quite. Flutie's most notable NFL work came in 1998, when he replaced Rob Johnson and helped the holdovers from Buffalo's Super Bowl teams voyage to two more playoff brackets. Flutie's first NFL backup foray went poorly, with the undersized USFL alum stumbling for the 1986 Bears. He spent most of the '90s as a Canada icon before resurfacing as a 1998 Pro Bowler. The dual-threat passer was inexplicably benched for the Music City Miracle game but again came off the bench to help the Bills in 2000. Flutie finished a 21-year pro career by playing behind Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
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James Harris
The first Black quarterback to be a regular NFL starter and first to start a playoff game, Harris was an NFL trailblazer. The Grambling product did not receive much of a chance with the Bills in the late 1960s and left football briefly in 1972, but he caught on with the Rams and became their starter when Chuck Knox traded Pro Bowler John Hadl in-season. Harris steered a defensively powered Rams team to the 1974 NFC championship game, earning Pro Bowl honors. Back as a part-timer by 1976, Harris posted a 436-yard, four-TD day in a shootout win over the Dolphins. He finished his career backing up Dan Fouts in San Diego.
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Shaun Hill
Although Hill never made any starts for a playoff team, the 2002 undrafted free agent put together a 14-year career. Hill saw extensive time as a backup to Alex Smith in San Francisco, Matthew Stafford in Detroit and Sam Bradford in St. Louis. Given the keys to some bad teams' offenses, Hill finished his career with a 49-30 TD-INT ratio. The 2008 49ers wanted winners, and Hill delivered, going 5-3 with a team that ranked 23rd defensively. He threw 16 TD passes in 10 Lions starts in 2010 and hung around through until 2016, backing up Bradford again in Minnesota.
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Brian Hoyer
Earning his journeyman letterman's jacket, Hoyer is now on his third Patriots stint. Hoyer's most notable work came in his hometown. In 16 Cleveland starts between the 2013-14 seasons, Hoyer went 10-6. He managed to have the Josh Gordon-less Browns at 7-4 in 2014; his benching for Johnny Manziel began a historically bad Browns run. Hoyer took over for Texans Week 1 starter Ryan Mallett early in 2015 and compiled a 19-7 TD-INT ratio in nine starts, helping the team to the AFC South title. The career backup/spot starter also saw time for the 49ers, Colts, Bears and Cardinals.
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Damon Huard
The more successful of the NFL's quarterbacking Huards, Damon played 13 seasons and collected a Super Bowl ring with the 2003 Patriots. When Dan Marino sat due to an injury in his final season, Huard went 4-1 in workmanlike wins. That stretch helped Miami to a wild-card berth. Huard's age-33 season in Kansas City was better. A frightening Trent Green concussion in Week 1 of 2006 thrust Huard into action. While the backup handed off to Larry Johnson plenty, he threw 11 TD passes and one INT, led the Chiefs to four 30-point games and a playoff spot. The Chiefs benching Huard in 2007 preceded a tough period for the franchise.
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Jeff Kemp
In between Roman Gabriel and Jim Everett, the Rams could not find a steady quarterback in a near-15-year period. But like James Harris, Kemp came through in key spots. Replacing Vince Ferragamo in 1984, the fourth-year UDFA led the Rams to the playoffs. Eric Dickerson breaking the single-season rushing record helped matters, but Kemp made 13 starts and aided the Rams to nine wins. The 49ers traded for Kemp in 1986, and he started six games for an injured Joe Montana. Kemp threw for 300-plus yards in two of those starts during a 49ers playoff season. He played 11 NFL seasons, retiring in 1992.
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Bob Lee
In between reliable stints as a Vikings backup, Lee oversaw the best Falcons stretch in their first decade of existence. A 17th-round pick out of Pacific in 1968, Lee was traded to Atlanta in 1973. He took over in Week 5 and led the Falcons to an 8-2 run that included a Monday-night win (highlighted by this play) over his former Vikings team bound for Super Bowl VIII. Lee found his way back to Minnesota in 1975, finishing his career as Fran Tarkenton's QB2. His final start, in a 1977 do-or-die regular-season finale, ended with a 30-20 win for an aging Viking squad attempting to defend its NFC title.
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Jacky Lee
A highly drafted backup and part of an unusual transaction, Lee was part of three AFL champions. The Oilers acquired Lee before their first season but saw future Hall of Famer George Blanda come out of retirement and become the starter for the AFL's first dynasty. Lee came off the bench six times from 1960-61. A 1961 Lee start ended with a then-AFL-record 457 passing yards. AFL commissioner Bud Foss then helped broker a two-season Lee loan — an all-time oddity — to the Broncos. Lee actually returned to Houston after the loan but ended his career as a Chiefs backup. He played in all 10 AFL seasons
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Josh McCown
A third-round Cardinals pick in 2002, McCown played for nine teams over 19 years. The journeyman/sought-after coach has been both a productive and unproductive starter while serving as a capable backup for nearly two decades. McCown's game-winning TD pass knocked the 2003 Vikings out of the playoffs; he produced three straight 300-yard games to keep the 2013 Bears in the hunt while spelling Jay Cutler. McCown recently helped a skeleton-crew Eagles offense put a scare into the Seahawks in a 2019 wild-card game. While 23-53 as a starter, McCown played for many bad teams.
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Matt Moore
Like Lee, Moore also made a cameo for a Chiefs Super Bowl champion. Initially surfacing as a Panthers UDFA, Moore spent seven seasons in Miami. He took over for Chad Henne and helped turn an 0-4 Dolphins team into a less terrible 6-10 squad in 2011, ruining any #SuckForLuck hopes. And after zero starts from 2012-15, Moore secured Miami's lone 2010s playoff berth after Ryan Tannehill tore an ACL. Replacing Henne again, Moore left a high school coaching job to be Patrick Mahomes' backup in 2019. The Chiefs would not have earned a bye, which aided their Super Bowl-winning run, without Moore's 275-yard outing against the Vikings.
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Earl Morrall
We have to bend the 33.3% rule here. It is impossible to have a backup QBs list without Morrall. A starter in 35% of his teams' games, the 21-year veteran arguably delivered the two most memorable years in QB2 annals. The former No. 2 overall pick was a journeyman before the Colts lost Johnny Unitas in 1968 and traded for Morrall. The late-arriving Colt became NFL MVP, throwing 26 TD passes. Super Bowl III did not go well for the two-time Pro Bowler, but Morrall ended up winning two rings — first as Unitas' backup/fill-in 1970 and second as Bob Griese's reliever. Morrall went 11-0 as a starter in 1972 to preserve the Dolphins' 17-0 season.
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Bill Munson
A first-round Rams pick in 1964, Munson did not retire until 1980. A backup and part-time starter for five teams, the Utah State product was best known for his Lions stay. Munson split time with the younger Greg Landry during much of his eight-year Detroit run. He came off the bench for a final drive in a 5-0 playoff loss to the Cowboys in 1971, nearly marching the Lions to an upset. Munson re-emerged as a starter in 1974 and '75, sporting a winning record with unremarkable Lions teams. He finished his career as a backup in Seattle, San Diego and Buffalo.
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Frank Reich
Jim Kelly's backup for eight of the Hall of Famer's 11 seasons, Reich played 14 years and is responsible for one of the NFL's signature performances. After Reich struggled against the Oilers in Week 17 of the 1992 season, his NFL-record 32-point comeback in the Bills' wild-card rematch featured 289 yards and four touchdown passes. A week later, Reich guided the Super Bowl-bound Bills to a 24-3 win over the No. 1-seeded Steelers. The current Colts head coach struggled away from Buffalo but still finished with a positive career TD-INT ratio and an unassailable QB2 legacy.
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Don Strock
It is difficult for any backup quarterback to top Strock's performance in arguably the greatest game ever played. Strock spent a staggering 15 seasons as the Dolphins' backup, starting 22 games and leading eight game-winning drives. While key in helping the team to two playoff brackets in the late 1970s, Strock coming off the bench with the Dolphins down 24-0 in 1981's "Epic in Miami" was an all-timer. He threw for 401 yards and four TDs in the Dolphins' 38-35 Round 2 loss to the Chargers. Even his final start became a comeback win to secure the Bernie Kosar-less Browns 1988 playoff access.
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Mike Tomczak
Tomczak played long enough to be a backup dancer in the 1985 Bears' "Super Bowl Shuffle" video and start a game in the 21st century. He received advantages of working with elite defenses — the Bears of the mid-to-late 1980s and the "Blitzburgh" Steelers of the '90s — but he stepped in for Chicago's Jim McMahon and Pittsburgh's Neil O'Donnell frequently to help several playoff-bound teams. The 16-year veteran's best work came in 1996 when he replaced Jim Miller in Week 1 and led the Steelers to 10 wins and a trip to the divisional round.
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Steve Walsh
A national champion at Miami, Walsh emerged as a notable fill-in for multiple playoff teams. With Saints starter Bobby Hebert a full-season holdout in 1990, Walsh replaced John Fourcade early that year and played well in spurts to help New Orleans to the playoffs — albeit at 8-8. He received another chance in a long-term audition four years later in Chicago. The Bears lost Erik Kramer to injury, and Walsh piloted the team to its only postseason cameo between 1991 and 2001. Walsh fared better in '94, completing 61% of his throws and throwing two TD passes in a wild-card win over the Vikings.
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Michael Irvin hints Jimmy Garoppolo held Deebo Samuel back .
Irvin said that Samuel would've produced even better numbers had he played with an elite signal-caller last season. "Well, the pushback is he didn't do what those guys have done," Irvin said when comparing the 2019 second-round draft pick to Adams, Hill, and Diggs. "He didn't put up the numbers like those guys in the receiving department. If I'm his agent, what I'm saying to everybody, 'Davante Adams had Aaron Rodgers. Tyreek Hill had Patrick Mahomes. I had the dude you all are trying to get rid of (Garoppolo), and I still did what I did. "I had a dude that you all were trying to get rid of right now.
Now, with the quarterback carousel mostly complete, Lynch admitted that the front office is holding still on the Garoppolo front until a trade materializes. The GM even noted that Garappolo could enter the season on the 49ers roster, and he rejected the notion that the organization would release the veteran QB.“I don’t foresee that,” Lynch said. “He’s too good a player. I think Jimmy will be playing for us or will be playing for someone else. He’s too good of a player not to be.”Naturally, this wasn’t the intended plan after the 49ers gave up a boatload of picks to draft Trey Lance during last year’s draft. 
It's unclear what kind of trade market exists for the 30-year-old who recently played in the NFC Championship Game but also likely won't be completing meaningful throwing exercises before June. At this point, Shanahan and company may ultimately elect to allow Garoppolo to compete with Lance even if the latter begins that process as the club's QB1. Subscribe to Yardbarker's Morning Bark, the most comprehensive newsletter in sports. Customize your email to get the latest news on your favorite sports, teams and schools. Emailed daily. 
Garoppolo has been playing through a painful thumb injury, and Kittle had nothing but praise for the QB.Garoppolo has stayed atop the depth chart when healthy but missed the Week 17 win over the Houston Texans with a Grade 3 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and a chipped bone, and he then suffered a "slight" sprain to his right (throwing) shoulder in the second quarter of this past Sunday's playoff win at the Dallas Cowboys. Kittle offered praise for his banged-up quarterback while speaking with reporters Wednesday ahead of this coming Saturday's must-win matchup at the Green Bay Packers. 
As San Francisco linebacker Fred Warner said, asking an unproven first-year pro to imitate arguably the best quarterback in the game today is "a tall task" at any point, let alone during the postseason. "It's one of those situations where you don't really feel Aaron Rodgers until you're out there against the man himself," Warner added about the betting favorite to win MVP honors for the 2021 regular season. "You can watch all the tape you want, think you've got him figured out. But you've got into the game and get into the flow of things to really get things going."When these teams last met in Week 3 on Sept. 
