Jimmy Garoppolo of the 49ers might not play enough before playing for real

Jimmy Garoppolo has to play.

Ask Kyle Shanahan.

The 49ers head coach hammered home the message on Monday night when asked about his quarterback's poor performance in a pre-season win in Denver, Garoppolo's first game since he had torn his ACL in September.

"It's just about playing it again."

"The more he can play, the better."

"We just want to get him out, have reps and play football."

"It's about playing and recruiting representatives with our team."

"It's about finding him representatives, putting him in different situations and letting him play as much as he can."

The solution seems simple, but the problem is obvious: Garoppolo will probably not play much more than two more quarters before playing in an important game.

That is to say that Garoppolo intends to play at least the first half of Saturday's pre-season game in Kansas City before playing the final of the exhibition next week.

So, will he be ready for the opening of the season in Tampa Bay on September 8th? Even the most optimistic of the faithful may find it difficult to answer this question after seeing Garoppolo perform 1 of 6 passes for zero yards and launch an interception against the Broncos, who also dropped what should have been an easy interception.

In addition to the inactivity of last season due to his injury, Shanahan emphasized Garoppolo's lack of experience when he insisted on the need for him to play. Garoppolo has only 10 career starts.

However, he proved that he could flourish with much less experience. In 2017, after two career debuts, Garoppolo became the 49th starter one month after the exchange. He won 5-0 with a team previously composed of 1-10, while he mastered the terms of reference.

Two years later, Garoppolo is more experienced but is coming back from a serious injury.

The 49ers noted that his recovery was excellent. In fact, general manager John Lynch called it "perfect" on Saturday. On Monday, Shanahan said Garoppolo was "in good health since OTA. We are not worried about the knee yet. "

However, Garoppolo was not so definitive when asked if he thought about his knee in Monday's match.

"Honestly, I really did not think so, so I'm happy about that," Garoppolo said. "In general, that did not bother me too much."

Many athletes have described in detail the mental obstacles related to the return of an injury. A few minutes after Garoppolo spoke to reporters, attacking midfielder Raheem Mostert said he had "a bit of hesitation" during the preliminary match, his first match since his break from the front-runners. arm in November.

On Monday, Garoppolo, who was often under pressure, did not force his jets on his left leg, the same leg where a corset covers his knee repaired surgically.

During his interception, Garoppolo was under the pressure of linebacker Bradley Chubb and his pass, intended for half-off Breida, was under the hood and intercepted by cornerback Isaac Yiadom, who covered wide receiver Marquise Goodwin.

The interception was similar to the only choice Garoppolo made last week in two joint trials with the Broncos. On Friday, while linebacker Von Miller was on the ground near his legs, Garoppolo threw a pass under the back foot easily intercepted by goalkeeper Justin Simmons.

Garoppolo was asked Monday if he thought what would be his first big success.

"Not really," says Garoppolo. "I think these will come naturally. It's football, you know what you're signing up for and everything, so it's not like you want it. I think I will build that in due course. "

Indeed, it will eventually happen to Garoppolo.

He just needs to play.