NFC Notes: Jimmy Garoppolo, Brock Purdy, 49ers, Rams

Jimmy Garoppolo

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Jimmy Garoppolo did not suffer a Lisfranc injury and won’t require surgery. However, the quarterback still needs time to recover and there is an “outside chance” that he’ll be ready “late in the playoffs.”

“It’s not a Lisfranc, they don’t have to do surgery on it,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWire. “It’s still going to be a big recovery, but much less than what we anticipated, which is awesome news for him in the offseason, he’ll be good to go right away, so it won’t be like last year. There’s that way outside chance, late in the playoffs or something like that, but it’s just an outside chance. I’m not really optimistic about that, but they didn’t rule it out.”

Shanahan added that Garoppolo is looking at a 7-8 week timeline of recovery. 

“At best case scenario, not to play football,” Shanahan said. “Seven-to-eight weeks, but to heal.”

Brock Purdy

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan doesn’t think that going from Jimmy Garoppolo to Brock Purdy is a “drastic change” and that the two quarterbacks have a similar skill set. 

“We’re trying not to make it a drastic change,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla 49ersWebZone. “I mean, they (Garoppolo and Purdy) have similar skill sets. We’ve got a lot of confidence in Brock. We’ve seen him in practice; the players have, we have, and that’s why we were confident in him. But he hasn’t played a ton of football, so there is some unknown out there, but we know he’s got the ability to do it, we know he’s got the mentality to do it. I don’t like how we got to this point, but we’re definitely excited about the option that we have.”

Shanahan said that Purdy has taken advantage of “every opportunity” he’s received. 

“He’s just been ready at every opportunity that he’s gotten,” Shanahan said. “He didn’t get much in OTAs. Most of that went to Trey [Lance] and Nate [Sudfeld]. But whenever he did, you could see what he showed you guys on Sunday. And each time we picked it up, he just showed more of that. He’s very aggressive in what he does. Sometimes that can keep both teams in the game, so that’s stuff that you’ve got to work on as you play more, but that’s where you want to start with it. When a guy can make some plays like he does, it gives you a chance to win, and we’ve got to figure out the best way to win with him.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay wishes he got WR Tutu Atwell involved earlier in the season, adding that he’s stepped up whenever his number has been called.

“I think last year he had the injury and I think just sometimes opportunities are presented and (he) probably should have had more opportunities this season,” McVay said, via Rams Wire. “Last year was more of a result of the injury and the depth that we ended up having at that position with guys that we already knew were ready to roll. This year probably should have gotten more opportunities earlier on in the season and that’s something that I won’t run away from because all this guy has done is answer the bell when he is had his chances.”