A report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter surfaced Wednesday that 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo would not need surgery on his broken foot, which opened the door for his return should the 49ers make a deep playoff run.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t slam that door closed Wednesday in a press conference, but he did shut it nicely without locking it.
“It’s not a Lisfranc, they don’t have to do surgery on it,” Shanahan said. “It’s still going to be a big recovery, but much less than what we anticipated, which is awesome news for him in the offseason, he’ll be good to go right away, so it won’t be like last year. There’s that way outside chance, late in the playoffs or something like that, but it’s just an outside chance. I’m not really optimistic about that, but they didn’t rule it out.”
The Schefter report indicated Garoppolo could return in seven-to-eight weeks. Shanahan provided some clarity on the QB’s recovery timeline.
“At best case scenario, not to play football,” Shanahan said of the recovery timeline. “Seven-to-eight weeks, but to heal.”
The initial prognosis from Shanahan was that Garoppolo would be out for the year with surgery. Removing surgery from the equation may not change the QB’s ability to play in 2022, but it should be helpful for him this offseason when he’s an unrestricted free agent.
Ultimately the 49ers would love to be in a spot where they have to decide whether to bring Garoppolo back since it’ll mean they’re at least in the divisional round of the playoffs, and maybe even deeper.
