SANTA CLARA, Calif .– It is still unclear whether Jimmy Garoppolo, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, will survive his right thumb injury against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
But if he has his way, Garoppolo will be in his usual starting spot in a game the 8-7 Niners must have to reach an NFC playoff spot. He said on Wednesday that he “definitely” had a chance to play against the Texans.
“I’ve basically played the entire game with it so it’s really just about grabbing the ball and doing the things I normally do and we’re going to test these out today, see how it feels and then move on.” said Garoppolo said. “But I am convinced of it.”
The 49ers can secure a postseason spot with a win against the Texans and a loss for the New Orleans Saints to the Carolina Panthers.
Before training on Wednesday, Garoppolo threw under the supervision of the team’s training staff. But Garoppolo was seen leaving the field before training began and was officially listed as a non-entrant on the attendance report.
Garoppolo also did not attend the team’s Monday “bonus” training session as he waited for the swelling of his thumb to subside. On Wednesday he threw for the first time since the Niners’ 20-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans last week.
“We’ll see how it looks today,” said Garoppolo on Wednesday. “If it looks good, it looks good. If it looks bad, it looks bad. It’s just one of those things to test and go through. Until we do, it’ll be hard to tell. But we will all be on the same page and do the right thing for the team. “
While there was some confusion about the severity of Garoppolo’s injury, coach Kyle Shanahan provided more clarity on Wednesday. According to Shanahan, Garoppolo has a grade 3 ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right thumb, adding that reports of a fracture have been due to the sprain “peeling off” a small patch of his bone.
But Shanahan said Garoppolo didn’t need surgery and insisted it was the sprain that challenged Garoppolo’s status for Sunday.
“Anytime there’s a bone that has something on it, you can call it a fracture, you can call it a chip, you can call it something, but that really doesn’t stop it,” Shanahan said. “It’s the third degree sprain he has. But because it doesn’t move and stuff, he doesn’t need surgery and he has a chance to play this week.”
Rookie Trey Lance took over all repetitions with the starting offensive on Monday and did this again on Wednesday with Garoppolo.
If Lance gets the nod, it would only be his second NFL start after standing up for Garoppolo against the Arizona Cardinals on Oct.10. As of 2017, the Niners are 30-14 in his starts and 7-28 in games started by all the other quarterbacks.
For his part, Garoppolo said whether he plays depends on how he can grab and throw the ball. Suffering the injury late in the second quarter of the Titans loss, he ended the game despite throwing a poor interception to open the third quarter.
Garoppolo added that he had tweaked his throwing movement as the game progressed to compensate for the injury, although he downplayed its severity on the sideline and did not bring it to the media after the loss.
“It’s a torn ligament, so it is what it is,” said Garoppolo. “The pain, it’s not going anywhere so I know how that feels but it’s just about being confident and going out and being able to do what I normally do with football. We will see where it takes us, but I feel good. ” now with it. “
With Garoppolo battling the thumb injury and players across the league being on the reserve / COVID-19 list, the Niners are also taking additional steps to protect all of their players, including the quarterbacks.
San Francisco signed quarterback Tyler Bray to the training team on Wednesday, where he joins veteran Nate Sudfeld behind Garoppolo and Lance.
Shanahan said the team also switched all meetings to virtual on Wednesday, two days after the player added Mitch Wishnowsky as the team’s first player on the COVID list since August.
“We’ve been pretty lucky so far to only have one man on the ground,” said Shanahan. “But just watching the world and watching everyone, knowing that it’s a matter of time, looks like this, so let’s just try to be careful and keep everyone separate until we go outside.”
