Jimmy Garoppolo hasn’t practiced this week, but the quarterback and the 49ers haven’t ruled him out. Coach Kyle Shanahan said Garoppolo wants to test his strained right calf in practice Friday to see if he can play against the Cardinals on Sunday.
“Jimmy told me he wants to give it a go tomorrow, so we’ll see him out on the practice field tomorrow,” Shanahan said on KNBR, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “If he looks good, then he’ll have a shot. If he can’t, then we’ll shut him down.”
Shanahan said Garoppolo will start the game if he can show he’s healthy enough to push off his back leg.
“Jimmy, it’s more just his health,” Shanahan said on his radio show. “If he feels good enough to where he can protect himself, [if] he feels confident to step into all his throws. Jimmy’s been here long enough, and he’s not a guy who’s just sitting here and rehabbing all week and checked out. He’s a guy who, besides the practice field, you would think he was starting.
“I mean, the meetings, the questions he asks, he’s on top of the whole game plan and everything. And he’s been through it enough to where it’s not that he has to do that stuff. The main thing is, the fact that he wants to give it a go means he’s feeling better, but you never really know until he goes out there and does a full dropback, has to react, and really step into some throws. And that’s what you want to see from him.”
Rookie Trey Lance will make his first career start if Garoppolo can’t play.
The only player Shanahan ruled out for Sunday is cornerback K’Waun Williams (calf).