Jimmy Garoppolo was outstanding in five games as the 49ers’ starting quarterback last season, but he has struggled on the practice field this week.
Garoppolo completed just 8 of 20 passes at one minicamp practice, according to the Press Democrat, and head coach Kyle Shanahan acknowledged the offense didn’t look good.
“If I was just the offensive coordinator, I would have been very upset. Fortunately, I’m the head coach, so I was happy with the defense. I thought the offense, we came out just sluggish. We couldn’t get the cadence right and we started practice that way. Guys can see how that trickles down and kind of ruins an entire practice,” Shanahan said.
Shanahan put a positive spin on Garoppolo’s struggles.
“I like to see Jimmy make mistakes,” he said. “I like seeing him come in and work on it. I like seeing him correct what he messed up two days ago. He felt the mistake. He understood why it was wrong and then he wants to correct it himself. I want him to understand it. Sometimes when things don’t work out, you learn. You’ve got to know the whys and that’s what allows you to have continued success over time.”
A few bad practices in June will not matter much when the games start in September. But the 49ers would surely prefer to see their highly paid franchise quarterback look sharp.