Jimmy Garoppolo has been placed in a difficult situation this offseason, as he is still with the San Francisco 49ers despite them admitting they do not view him as their quarterback of the future. Some players would sulk under those circumstances, but Garoppolo insists he is only focusing on what he can control.
Garoppolo was asked on Tuesday what he was thinking when the 49ers completed a blockbuster trade to move up to No. 3 in the draft. He admitted there were “a million emotions,” but he said he was able to quickly move forward.
“You think of all the possible scenarios and things like that,” Garoppolo said, via Mike Giardi of NFL Network. “But, at the end of the day I want to play football. I want to go out there and win games. It’s what I do. It wasn’t anything too crazy. It just took a while to process everything. But, once I did, it was just, ‘Go out there and ball.’ You just gotta attack it. The NFL is a crazy business. Things happen, but you just gotta attack it day by day and make the best of it.”
Garoppolo was then asked whether he believes he can alter the Niners’ plans if he plays his best. He said he has enough to worry about to prepare for the season without thinking about all that.
“It’s one of those things, the situation is what it is. It’s not changing,” he said. “So you just try to make the best of it. The way I do that is I try to attack each day and just put my best foot forward.”
Niners general manager John Lynch has maintained that Garoppolo is an important part of the team’s plans. He even left the door open for Garoppolo to be San Francisco’s long-term quarterback instead of Trey Lance, though that seems highly unlikely.
Lance is a raw prospect, so the Niners’ plan is seemingly to have him sit for a while behind Garoppolo. Jimmy G. had a nice gesture for the rookie after the draft. Thus far, Garoppolo has handled the situation as well as the 49ers could hope for.
