Yes, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo helmed the San Francisco 49ers offense since the last handful of weeks of the 2017 season. However, the team spent the entire offseason adjusting to its new starter, Trey Lance, expecting last year's No. 3 overall pick to be the signal-caller for the entire 2022 season.
That changed in Week 2 when Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury, thrusting backup Garoppolo into the starting lineup once again.
While you would think it might be a smooth transition, it actually required a lot of adjustment by players and even coaches. Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR on Thursday and was asked if a recalibration period was necessary once Garoppolo took over.
"Oh yeah, big time," Shanahan responded on the Tolbert & Copes show. "But it's also not about just, 'All right, now I've got to call these plays.' That's why I think play callers get too much credit when a play is great."
Shanahan jokingly added, "When it's bad, we deserve it."
The coach notes that much effort is put into ensuring players are ready for every play scenario. Their technique is sharpened. Of course, all of that depends on the plan for the season.
"It's about, 'Yeah, this is going to be a walk-in touchdown if we get this look,'" Shanahan continued. "But, it's going to be a walk-in touchdown if we can make the throw, if we can beat the guy, if we protect everyone the right way. But you get that look one out of every 20 times. So what are we going to do on the other 19 times?
"Well, that's what we're going to start repping you in training camp. That's why we're going to give you this look. That's why we're going to give you that look. All right, everyone got that, but our backup tackle is in. Has he gotten it? We've got to train him.
"That's what OTAs are. That's what training camp is. And that's kind of the recalibration of when you're trying to put together an offense in the direction your team's going to go that year. It's always going to be viewed through how your quarterback is or what you want to do with your quarterback, and that is what we did with Trey."
Garoppolo's return to the 49ers came late. He wasn't involved with the team until the Niners renegotiated his one-year deal just before the start of the regular season.
"Our whole team had been practicing, [then in Week 2], you're going back to what we had done a lot more in the past, but not stuff that you're kind of working on and emphasizing," Shanahan explained. "So I do think it takes time to get that continuity, get that consistency, and perform at the high level that you need to, to be successful against these defenses in this league."
Game planning against the Rams
The 49ers and Los Angeles Rams last faced each other on October 3. They'll meet again this weekend at SoFi Stadium. Does that matter when it comes to game planning?
"With most teams, I'd like to spread it out a little bit, just so you have more film in between, and you can see other stuff," Shanahan responded. "But with the Rams, it doesn't matter. Us two teams know each other so well. We've played each other five times in the last 50 weeks. This will be five. We know the coaching staffs well, the schemes, our players know each other well."
Unless a reporter asks Aaron Donald about Deebo Samuel. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
"Even last year, when we played them earlier in the year, then had to play them in Week [18]," Shanahan continued, "not much had changed, even though there had been like 10 games in between or whatever it was. Now, there's two games in between, and it's still the exact same thing.
"So you go back to the games last year. You go to it this year. They've played two since the last game. We've played three. We know what the deal is, and so do they."
Will Jimmie Ward stay at nickel?
Jimmie Ward played 45 of his 56 snaps at nickel cornerback in his first game back since breaking his hand in Week 5. Is that something that will stick moving forward?
"That's what we did last week for that game, and we'll see how it goes," defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans said Thursday. "But Jimmie is a unique player in the sense that I think Jimmie can do things that other players just can't do. His versatility is very unique. He's probably one of the only guys in his league that can do safety, can come down in the box, play nickel.
"He can do it all, blitzing, covering. Not too many guys can do that. And that's the unique talent that Jimmie has a God-given ability that not many guys have. So that's what makes Jimmie unique. That's what makes him stand out amongst other players in this league."
Ward would prefer playing safety but is willing to do whatever his coaches ask of him. Sunday was Ward's first full game of the season.
"It's been a challenge, man," Ward said Wednesday. "Like I said, it's a challenge. Maybe if I was at safety—I don't know—it probably would have been a challenge, too."
Mike McGlinchey's struggles
Mike McGlinchey's 2021 campaign ended on injured reserve after the right tackle suffered a quadriceps injury in Week 9. He has played in every game this season but has struggled at times, including Sunday's loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. McGlinchey has given up a team-leading three sacks and 12 pressures, per Pro Football Focus. Two of those sacks and a season-high four pressures came on Sunday.
"So yeah, there were some rough plays there at the end of the game for him," offensive line/run game coordinator Chris Foerster said Thursday. "And not good enough by any stretch of the imagination, but it's different than in past years. Definitely, his approach, like I said, his approach since coming off the injury, his approach last year before getting hurt, and then how he's worked on himself throughout was much better.
"Was the result what we wanted? No. It was still not a good enough result, and there's no excuse for it, so we have to continue to work to fix that."
