Former New England Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has a lot of work ahead of him. The new San Francisco 49ers quarterback arrived in Santa Clara on Tuesday afternoon, jumped into a press conference with general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, took some publicity photos, and then moved on to learning the playbook.

It's a tough task for any quarterback to jump from one type of offense to an entirely different one. It's even tougher for a quarterback to jump into an offense as complex as Shanahan's. Fans might have to wait a bit to see Garoppolo jump into a game.

Garoppolo feels confident that he can catch up quickly, but admits that he doesn't know a lot about Shanahan's offense yet.

"Just seeing it on film, I've watched it to try to pick up certain things when we were in New England," Garoppolo said. "It's a fun offense. It looks like it at least. I'm excited to learn it, get the verbiage down and everything, get in the huddle with the guys. That's what I'm really looking forward to. Just meeting the new teammates, meeting all the staff and everything like that. It's going to be a great experience, and I'm looking forward to it."


When could we see the newest 49ers player in a game? Shanahan will not throw Garoppolo into action before he is ready.

"We'll look at that week to week," Shanahan said on Tuesday during Garoppolo's introductory press conference. "It's a huge challenge, Jimmy coming here, never playing in this offense before. I know it's completely different terminology from what he had in New England and college. And that takes a lot of time. I know Jimmy's going to come in here and do everything he can to get ready. I know we are too but by no means are we just trying to rush the process.

"I would definitely not expect it this week. We'll look at it each week and when we feel that he's comfortable and has a chance to go in there and have some success with the time he's put in, the reps that he's gotten in practice, then we'll decide when that time's right."

"You play 16 games a year," Shanahan continued later during the press conference. "You practice all the time. You can learn a lot from a guy in practice too. We didn't just bring Jimmy here to just help us right now. We would love for him to help us right now but this is more about the big picture too."

Shanahan was asked what he likes about Garoppolo and what the quarterback brings to his offense.


"First of all, it starts with ability," Shanahan said. "Jimmy has the ability to make plays with his legs. He's a very good thrower and, most importantly to me, he hangs in that pocket, keeps his eyes downfield, and is up for any challenge."

The 49ers traded for Garoppolo on Monday and officially announced the deal the next morning. The team sent its second-round pick in the 2018 draft to New England in return for the quarterback.


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