All of a sudden, the 49ers have a quarterback injury situation yet again. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday that Jimmy Garoppolo, who was not present at practice, suffered what he termed a right thumb sprain and that he will be re-evaluated on Wednesday.
But according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, that may not be an entirely accurate assessment.
Schefter reported that Garoppolo is believed to have suffered “a more significant injury” than what Shanahan described.
That would seem to suggest pretty clearly that Garoppolo is unlikely to play this weekend. That also means Trey Lance, whose last real appearance – excluding his brief relief showing against Jacksonville – was starting against the Arizona Cardinals, is in line for his second career start.
UPDATE: Per Schefter, Garoppolo suffered a torn UCL in his right thumb. And according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Garoppolo also suffered a chipped bone, but, apparently will “try to gut it out, somehow.”
Some might say that asking Garoppolo, who has played notoriously poorly after injuries, is a confounding proposition and that doing so with Lance available would make it even more bizarre. It seems doubtful that Garoppolo would play through — or be allowed to play through — that injury, which is why this pre-empting of his gutsiness could have more to do with narrative than reality.
Shanahan said the last four weeks of practice from Lance have been his most consistent since he was drafted. He also noted that he’s declined to allow Lance to speak to media because backup quarterbacks typically don’t speak to media throughout the season, and that it wouldn’t be fair to force Lance to be available simply because he was the third overall pick.
We’ll know more later this week, but for now, Garoppolo’s status is in serious jeopardy. Local Bay Area sports doctor Nirav Pandya provided this assessment:
Shanahan also provided other injury updates on key players.
Azeez Al-Shaair suffered a knee sprain and is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season.
A potential return for Dre Greenlaw could ease that loss, but Shanahan was not optimistic that he’ll return this week. He was more encouraged about next week, but that was still a deeply uncertain assessment.
D.J. Jones was dealt an ankle sprain, meaning he’ll be limited this week. Shanahan also said Elijah Mitchell (knee) has a chance to practice and play this week after missing the past two games with a concussion and a knee injury.
He still says the return timeline for Emmanuel Moseley (injured reserve – high ankle sprain) would be in the postseason.
Lastly, the 49ers have their first Reserve/COVID-19 list addition of the season in punter Mitch Wishnowsky. Shanahan said that so far, his close contacts have come back negative.