Jimmy Garoppolo's Ankle Could Require Surgery

Jimmy Garoppolo re-injured his high-ankle sprain Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks. He may need surgery to repair it, and most likely will go on Injured Reserve. Head coach Kyle Shanahan made all of this clear Tuesday on a video conference.

“He essentially had a whole new (high-ankle sprain) on the same foot,” Shanahan explained. “When you have those high-ankle sprains, you re-injure them a lot. But it was a different way that he did it, so he basically did it all over again in a different way. It’s usually four to six weeks with high-ankle sprains. It is worse than the last one. That’s why surgery is an option. We’re just getting different doctors’ opinions now. Whatever is best for him is obviously what we’ll decide. If he does need the surgery, it will be all year. If not, then hoping six weeks, get a chance to get back at the end of the season.”

Garoppolo initially injured his ankle Week 2 against the New York Jets, then missed the 49ers’ next two games. After an embarrassing home loss to Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night football, Shanahan rushed Garoppolo back into the lineup before he was fully healthy.

“We felt he was able to go in there and at least protect himself and make the throws,” Shanahan said. “We felt good about that. I thought it was affecting how it was throwing in the game (against the Dolphins), so we took him out. But then he looked really good in practice for the last two weeks, also thought he looked pretty good in the games for the next two weeks following that. That’s why when he went down (against the Seahawks), we thought it was just what happens with high-ankle sprains, which happens to everybody. Once you come back from it after a month, you do stuff almost every quarter on it.

“I personally had one my senior year in college. I did it in training camp, and it affected me for two years. Those things do linger. That’s why I thought he had a chance to go back in the game. But he re-injured it, did it completely worse and it was a whole new thing rolling it the way he did. That’s why it’s a little more serious. I don’t regret bringing him back. Obviously the way the Miami game went, if I could have seen that before the game I could have avoided bringing him back. I thought he gave us a real good chance to win and we didn’t think he was risking injury.”

Now, the Garoppolo Era might be over in Santa Clara. If he has surgery and misses the rest of the season, he might never play another game for the 49ers -- they can release or trade Garoppolo in 2021, and might have to if they need salary-cap space, because he's expensive and injury prone.

“That’s a big part of football, when it comes to the salary cap,” Shanahan said. “That’s the business part. I do know football business, and when it comes into play with the salary cap, taking into account what players that allows you to have, what it doesn’t -- that stuff you’re always thinking about. That goes into a lot of decisions. You bring up Jimmy -- it’s not just him, it’s everyone on our team. It’s how do you put a whole team together? That’s some of the hard decisions you have to make."