The 49ers had a sizable injury scare in the second half Sunday against the Saints when Saints defensive lineman Malcolm Roach dove into quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s knees while chasing him toward the sideline.
Buy 49ers TicketsRoach’s helmet collided with the left knee that Garoppolo injured in 2018, and the 49ers QB came down grimacing and holding his left leg. Roach was flagged for roughing the passer on the play.
“It’s football, but you gotta be smart as players – look out for one another,” Garoppolo said in his postgame press conference. “There’s no place for that. I’m alright. A little sore, but nothing bad.”
Garoppolo later re-iterated that those types of plays happen in football, but players have to be smarter when it comes to the health of other players.
The 49ers’ signal caller said he never thought about coming out of the game, and that the physicality on Roach’s hit wasn’t the only play like that one.
“No, I was staying in the game,” Garoppolo said. “I knew what type of game it was. I mean that’s what it was all day. That wasn’t the only hit that was questionable like that. Throughout the whole game it was like that. That’s football.”
Despite taking six hits and getting sacked once, Garoppolo came out of the game without any major injuries. The 49ers also snagged a win in a game that was nothing like their blowout win over the Cardinals.
“It was a gritty game,” Garoppolo said. “Proud of the guys today just how they fought through all the adversity that was thrown at us. It was all types of adversity and we just kept going. I think that was a good win for us.”
The victory was the fourth straight for the 49ers and their fourth in a row without allowing a point in the second half. Garoppolo finished the game 26-of-37 for 222 yards and one touchdown.
San Francisco is back at it at home against the Dolphins next week where they’ll try to snag a fifth-straight win.
