Kyle Shanahan Says Jimmy Garoppolo is a "Real Good Quarterback"
Here's the transcript of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan's Wednesday comments about Jimmy Garoppolo, courtesy of the 49ers public relations department.
Q: We got to see Jimmy thrive in another two-minute situation to come back and tie the game. It’s something he's done a few times this year. He actually did it the first time he ever started a game for you against the Bears in 2017. I'm just curious what you think are the factors that go into him thriving in those situations?
SHANAHAN: “I think he's a real good quarterback. The way he can throw it, how quick he can get rid of it, despite the protection. And he's made good decisions. When you're in those situations, that's when pass rushes tee off. So that's when they become real hard. And sometimes you block them well, sometimes you don't and when you don't, if you get sacked, usually the drive is over. But Jimmy's done a real good job of being able to get rid of it. And then when we've blocked, he’s always been able to hold onto it, which to me allows you to succeed in those situations.”
Q: Kind of blending those two things, in terms of just Jimmy Garoppolo, all the interceptions we've seen him over the years. I'd imagine one, you know him more, he's the quarterback you know better than any other quarterback you've coached. And then so when he throws an interception, what do you see that triggers him to rebound on that next drive?
SHANAHAN: “Honestly, no differences than when he throws an interception. When you let that ball rip and you're not scared of failing, things don't always go perfect. And you watch a lot of good quarterbacks in this league and some do a really good job of never having picks, which is very rare. But even look at some of the great ones, they're going to get some interceptions, they're aggressive with it. Sometimes when they’re like that, you can keep both teams in the game, but usually they get you over the hump if you keep swinging. And that's how Jimmy's always been, sometimes it's better than others, but when you throw the ball like that and if you're not scared to fail, sometimes that stuff happens.”
Q: A lot of people, myself included, throughout the season had made the case that you should probably play QB Trey Lance more. And the results sort of spoke for themselves. What did we miss from your vantage point in terms of what did we miss about Jimmy that gave you unwavering belief throughout the entire season?
SHANAHAN: “I'm not sure. I think it's human nature, I guess. And I think it's when you trade up and everyone's real excited and you get a quarterback with the third pick of the draft, I think everyone's waiting to see and just very rarely do two quarterbacks play. We did a little bit of it at the beginning of the year, but that's just not something that happens much. So I think as soon as you have a bad record and things don't look right, regardless of whether you have a backup on the bench that everyone wants to see, or whether you don't, when you're 3-5 and you've lost four in a row, whether you're the coordinators, the head coach or the quarterback, that's just how it is. And when you have a rookie sitting there on the bench, it's what's expected. That's what I kind of like about our building that I don't think it's something that people missed. That's what you expect. That is what happens. And when you have an organization that, to me, we really don't splinter in here. Guys aren't going to just get caught up in that stuff and come and force anything like that. And it allows you to make the right decisions. And when you watch the tape, I didn't think Jimmy was playing that bad. I thought as a team there was a number of things we weren't doing well. And when we'd all go back and watch the tape every Sunday night, Monday, that isn't what we saw. And we did think Jimmy was still giving us the best chance and we wanted to give Trey more time, not only just for him, but also for our team. And so it wasn't a tough decision. We just stuck with it because that's what the right decision was based off of film and based off of what we are in our building and our practice. And I’m glad the guys have come through and got us to this point and I'm real glad we're still playing.”
Q: If I've got that partially right, did you have any sort of epiphany or just a moment where you began to develop an even greater appreciation for the run game in your career?
SHANAHAN: “Yeah, I think the more you do anything, to me you become on who you are based off of your life circumstances and experiences. And when you're a play caller, I think what you're trying to say is my first two years in Houston, we didn't run the ball at all. And we threw it all the time. I think we were 31st in rushing my last year there and first in passing and the year before, I think we were third in passing and I think 17th in rushing. So I had two years as a coordinator and the way our quarterback was, the way our receivers were, we were just built to throw. And so you knew how to do that. And then I went to Washington and you tried to do the same stuff and you realize you can't, you have to do different stuff with different players and you start to adjust and figure out what you need to do. And you learn the importance of everything and getting forced to do certain things based off your personnel, I do think helps you grow as a coach. So then when you feel like you can do both, you don't just abandon one because you understand through your experiences why you have to be able to throw the ball, you have to be able to run the ball. We ran the ball really well versus the Rams and I think that was only because we threw the ball well. In both of those games, if we didn't have two of our best third down games throwing the ball, you would not have seen those type of runs. So I think it all ties together. And I also think it helps you win games is what you learn the most. The more you run the ball, the less chance you have usually of penalties, usually of sacks and most importantly, interceptions.”
My take:
Shanahan said all the nice things he could about Garoppolo, but didn't lie. He called Garoppolo a "real good quarterback," which is a fair statement. When asked about Dak Prescott, Shanahan called him a "great player," which also is accurate. So Shanahan acknowledged that the Cowboys have the better quarterback in this matchup.
