Garoppolo went down with less than six minutes left in Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs after a scramble to his left to gain more yards. He collided with Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson, but the damage was already done. The quarterback immediately grabbed his left knee as he fell to the ground.
"I think Jimmy was just trying to be a ballplayer and trying to make a play," tackle Joe Staley said after the game. "He wasn't running out of bounds. He was trying to get some extra yards for his team, and it was just one of those things."
Of course, Staley is a teammate of Garoppolo's. What else is he going to say? Justin Houston is not Garoppolo's teammate. He is an outside linebacker for Kansas City and had a very different opinion.
"That was his fault," Houston said via Pro Football Talk. "I pray he's not hurt, nothing serious, but as a quarterback, you should step out of bounds. It was only an inch. That inch wouldn't have made a difference. You got the yardage you need, you step out of bounds. You got to be smart."
He's probably not wrong, and thoughts like that were likely going through Garoppolo's head as he was being carted to the locker room at Arrowhead Stadium. His teammates watched as their leader was taken away, and with him, likely the hopes for the 2018 season.
Fans would obviously rather have their franchise quarterback for the remainder of the season than the yard or two that Garoppolo gained by staying inbounds against the Chiefs.
"It's absolutely on Jimmy to know when to go out." said our own Zain Naqvi via Twitter. "This injury could have been prevented by him."
Of course, Naqvi isn't placing all of the blame on Garoppolo's shoulders.
"If he had more blue-chip talent around him, he wouldn't feel like he has to put on the cape and carry the team all the time," Naqvi continued. "(This) should serve as a wake-up call to John Lynch and the [front office] to start using some of that cap money and be more aggressive."
The 49ers, of course, have practiced patience in their rebuilding process. The team didn't even anticipate having its franchise quarterback in place until this past offseason with a potential signing of Kirk Cousins or the drafting of a rookie. At least, that was the plan. Head coach Kyle Shanahan and company got a bit of a head start when the New England Patriots came calling in late October and practically gifted them a franchise quarterback.
The team's patient process did not change, but that doesn't mean it didn't make moves when they seemingly made sense. The 49ers were aggressive in signing veteran cornerback Richard Sherman, who is a perfect fit within their defensive scheme. In fact, he is the prototype for what you want at the position within this defense.
The 49ers also aggressively pursued center Weston Richburg and drafted Mike McGlinchey in an effort to improve the protection in front of Garoppolo. They also added a versatile weapon in running back Jerick McKinnon, who was also lost for the season with an ACL injury.
The areas the team failed to upgrade were at guard, the addition of a dedicated pass rusher, and a big red-zone threat at wide receiver.
General manager John Lynch and the 49ers were reportedly aggressive in their pursuit of former Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack, which would have addressed the pass rush. They lost in the bidding to the Chicago Bears.
The 49ers at least looked into the possibility of adding former Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon. Shanahan had experience with the troubled playmaker, and the 49ers didn't value him as highly as the New England Patriots, who ended up acquiring him via a trade.
So now the 49ers move forward with second-year quarterback C.J. Beathard leading the offense and Garoppolo on the road to recovery and, hopefully, a successful 2019 return.
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