A Tale of Two Jimmys: Garoppolo Returns to 49ers Practice, Ward Sits out with Wrist Injury
It’s beginning to seem like Jimmy Garoppolo will play Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.
He practiced Wednesday with the 49ers for the first time since he suffered a high-ankle sprain against the New York Jets on Sept. 20. Garoppolo was a limited participant in practice, meaning he stretched and warmed up and went through drills with the other quarterbacks, but did not participate in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11 team scrimmages.
Has head coach Kyle Shanahan’s optimism that Garoppolo will play on Sunday increased?
“The fact that he’s coming out today and getting a little more reps, it has,” Shanahan said. “I haven’t seen him yet. He did a good job in walkthrough. We’ll see how he goes. We’ll throw him in there today. That will give me more of an opinion.”
Presumably if Garoppolo can move well enough to protect himself, and he experiences no setbacks or additional soreness in his ankle this week, he’ll play against the Dolphins. Meaning he’s on track.
But if he can’t play, Shanahan wouldn’t say which quarterback would take his place -- Nick Mullens or C.J. Beathard. “I’m going to hold that, because there is a difference between them. And if Jimmy can’t go, I’d like Miami to find that out on Sunday. But I’ve decided that. We’ll give both of them reps, because both of them do have to be ready in case Jimmy doesn’t go. But if not, you’ll find out the answer by which one isn’t dressed on game day.”
I’m guessing Beathard would start if Garoppolo can’t play.
Here are the other injured players in addition to Garoppolo who were limited participants in Wednesday’s practice: Dre Greenlaw (thigh), Raheem Mostert (knee), Dante Pettis, Trent Taylor and Ahkello Witherspoon. So those five are on track to play as well.
The following players did not practice on Wednesday and are not yet on track to play against the Dolphins: Dontae Johnson, Emmanuel Moseley, Richard Sherman and Jimmie Ward, who injured his wrist.
“We weren’t concerned at all because it was just sore,” Shanahan said of Ward’s wrist. “That’s why we didn’t talk about it. But today it was sorer. The fact that it was getting worse and not better, we just wanted to do some tests on it. We’re pretty optimistic about it -- we’re doing this more for precautionary reasons right now. But he is held out of practice today, so we’ll see.”
Meaning Ward may or may not play against the Dolphins.
Sherman almost certainly won’t play -- he’s still on Injured Reserve with a calf injury. The earliest he would return likely would be the following Sunday when the 49ers play the Rams.
