Jimmy Garoppolo is tired of being hurt. "It sucked. In between series I could feel it tightening up and everything. Thought I could gut it out. Tried to for the first half," said Garoppolo, who said he injured his calf on the opening series Sunday in the 49ers' loss to Seattle. "It's just tough, man. I've been in this situation too many times and it's getting real old."
The 29-year-old has played well when healthy throughout his career (98.7 quarterback rating, 8.2 yards per attempt), but that's rarely been the case with Garoppolo missing a combined 23 games to injury since the start of 2018. Garoppolo's expected absence would open the door for rookie dual-threat Trey Lance, who impressed with a pair of second-half touchdowns (both to Deebo Samuel) against the Seahawks.
"I don't know exactly what happened. Tweaked a calf. It hurt initially. I thought I could keep trying. It just kept getting worse and worse," said Garoppolo, who completed 14-of-23 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception before ceding quarterback duties to Lance in the second half. "We'll get more information [Monday] with the MRI and everything."
Unlike the ACL tear that shelved him for most of 2018, Garoppolo doesn't think his current injury is of the season-ending variety, expressing optimism that he'll only miss a "couple weeks." However, that may be all Lance—who San Francisco chose with the third overall pick in this year's draft—needs to cement himself as the Niners' QB1, wrestling the job away from Garoppolo once and for all.
A two-time college national champion at North Dakota State, the same school that produced Carson Wentz, Lance has largely filled a gadget role this season (not dissimilar to the way Sean Payton employs Taysom Hill in New Orleans), balancing 162 yards and three touchdowns through the air with 44 yards and a rushing score on 11 carries. Lance will have his work cut out for him in his starting debut next week at Arizona, facing an undefeated Cardinals team firing on all cylinders.
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