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The 49ers looked at Tom Brady last season. They stayed with Jimmy Garoppolo, and he only played six games due to ankle sprains.
This off-season again offered uncertainty about Garoppolo’s future with the 49ers, even when general manager John Lynch said he “has no doubt” that Garoppolo will start as a team defender in 2021 if he is healthy. It is this “healthy if” that remains an issue.
Garoppolo has lost 23 games in the past three seasons due to injuries, starting all 16 in 2019, when the 49ers won the NFC title.
Defender Kyle Juszczyk said he believed Garoppolo was not bothered by speculation.
“I think it would be naive to say that he doesn’t hear any of this, but the guy doesn’t really hear much,” Juszczyk told The Pat McAfee Show on Monday via 49ers Webzone. “He is not very active on social media. I mean, you’ll see the guy post once a month on his Instagram, and it’s usually some kind of ad from a luxury car dealership or something. I don’t think he has a Twitter account and, if he does, he’s not very active in that.
“And I know that he keeps things really closed inside the house. The guy goes out with his brothers, mostly. He spends a lot of time with his family, just kind of has a very close-knit group of guys, so he’s not really exposing himself and allowing himself to hear that kind of thing because I think he knows how toxic it can be and what it can lead to. You’ve seen it in other situations where guys are hammered by reading negative things about themselves. “
The 49ers would be crazy if they didn’t make a phone call if the Texans put Deshaun Watson on the commercial block. Or, having the 12th overall choice, 49ers could try to draft their future franchise quarterback.
Therefore, speculation about Garoppolo’s work is unlikely to go away anytime soon.