HENDERSON, Nev., — The 2022 NFL season did not end the way the 49ers -- or Jimmy Garoppolo -- wanted, but the Las Vegas Raiders quarterback has put it all behind him.
The 31-year-old spoke to the media after the first joint practice with his former team on Thursday. Garoppolo admitted how pushing too hard to return from his foot injury during the end of the team’s playoff run in 2022 might have been too aggressive.
“Sort of, yeah,” Garoppolo said. “It was my choosing because I wanted to do something, because if the championship game did happen, I wanted to be out there. It’s all in the past now. Things worked out the way they did, and I’m happy with how it all worked out.”
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Garoppolo finally opted for surgery after signing with the Raiders during free agency on a three-year agreement valuing $72.7 million. While the quarterback clearly has moved on, Garoppolo has fond memories and a lot of respect for his former team.
At the end of Garoppolo’s tenure with the 49ers, Coach Kyle Shanahan, was very succinct when asked about the quarterback potentially returning to the club. After practice, the head coach clarified his position on the matter.
“I think Jimmy was unbelievable for us,” Shanahan said. “He won lots of games. I think that was a simple question. Is there a scenario where he’ll be back here next year and I gave a common sense answer — ‘No.” I think that was a little overblown, on trying to be a shot at him or anything. We knew he wasn’t going to be coming back from his standpoint or ours, financially and everything.”
“I think he was the best quarterback here in about 20 years in Steve Young. Has an unbelievable record and every time he played and stayed healthy we were in the Super Bowl of the NFC Championship game.”
San Francisco 49ers
Garoppolo won 38 of his 55 appearances with the 49ers and recorded a 67.6-percent completion rate throwing 82 touchdown passes and 42 interceptions. While things didn’t end with a storybook finish in the Bay Area for Garoppolo, there are no hard feelings.
“It was wild,” Garoppolo said of the end of the 2022 season. “I was doing my thing trying to get my foot ready and that didn’t work out how I wished it would have. But those guys, going through three quarterbacks and still making it to the NFC Championship game, that’s damn impressive for a team.
"I know Niners, they’ve got a great team and everything. We had a great time. It’s on to Vegas now, but yeah, I treasure those times, those were good times.”
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