Kyle Shanahan hopes Jimmy Garoppolo can return to 49ers by OTAs

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday morning on KNBR that Jimmy Garoppolo's surgery to repair his torn ACL "went as good as it could go." Shanahan gave reporters a guesstimate on Friday afternoon on when his starting quarterback might make his way back onto the practice field.

"I haven't gotten a timeline yet," Shanahan said. "I know you guys will probably hold me to it, but I'm hoping that he will be able to get into OTAs and do some non-contact stuff with throwing the ball and everything.

"It's always a little bit better when you're dealing with a quarterback and stuff as opposed to other positions just because you can get him in, hopefully, in 7-on-7 drills a little bit early and things like that, which help those guys get involved a lot faster."

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That would place Garoppolo's return around late May when organized team activities typically kick off but don't hold Shanahan to that timeline.

"I'm also just guessing right now," he continued. "I wouldn't say for sure, but when someone tells me that they felt very good about the surgery and how it went, then that's usually about the normal timeline."

Garoppolo suffered the torn ACL on September 23 against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. He had surgery to repair the damage on Wednesday morning. A late-May return would put his recovery time at about eight months.