The 49ers already lost Trey Lance. Now, they won’t have Jimmy Garoppolo the rest of the way.
Garoppolo is out for the season with a broken left foot.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan offered a bit of hopeful news Monday: Doctors don’t believe the quarterback has a Lisfranc injury.
Shanahan was hesitant to commit since Garoppolo still is undergoing tests and visiting with foot specialists. Garoppolo will require surgery to repair the fracture.
“That’s why they’re still trying to work through it,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “They were talking about that a lot last night, but it seems like they’re starting to believe that it isn’t [LisFranc]. So that is good news, but it’s not all for sure done yet. Some specialists have got to finalize it, so we don’t want to give you guys any false information. But they’re discussing all those things. We’re feeling like it’s starting to get better than that, so we’ll see when we get the official information.”
If it’s not a Lisfranc injury, it will mean a quicker recovery for Garoppolo. That won’t, however, ease the disappointment of finishing the season on injured reserve again.
“It’s a big deal,” Shanahan said. “He’s hurting. But it was good to see him today just being positive and be able to give him a hug and all the guys see him because his journey starts coming back from this, which won’t be a problem. He’ll come back no problem. Football’s tough. A lot of these guys have gotten big injuries before. When they do, it’s crushing. I can go back to myself and remember my big injuries, whether it was college or high school, and you would’ve thought the world ended, but then you learn that’s part of the sport and you start to get a rehab plan and you go attack it and you get ready for the next opportunity.”
The 49ers are down to third-stringer Brock Purdy as their starter.
