49ers notebook: Garoppolo ditches knee brace, Ward’s versatility may get tapped
Jimmy Garoppolo last year said there’s a chance he might wear his knee brace during games for the foreseeable future. But during recent walk throughs, Garoppolo ditched the brace protecting his surgically repaired knee in what could be be a positive sign for the 49ers quarterback.
Fullback Kyle Juszczyk dropped that nugget during his Zoom call with Bay Area reporters on Tuesday when asked about the differences for Garoppolo heading into the new season.
“It’s hard to say from an outsider’s perspective other than the fact that you see that he’s not wearing a brace. That’s the biggest thing that stands out to me,” Juszczyk said. “But I just know speaking as an athlete myself, when you don’t have to think about something, if something is not in the back of your mind and it’s not weighing on you, it relieves so much stress, so much pressure and you’re able to play so much more freely.”
Garoppolo wasn’t playing freely early last season when he was a year removed from the torn left ACL that cost him the final 13 games of 2018. He had his disastrous preseason debut in Denver and the infamous training camp practice where he threw interceptions on five straight passes during full-team drills.
But he progressed as the season went on. The 28-year-old improved his passer rating from 90.8 over the first six games to 108.1 over the final 10, and his yards per attempt from 7.87 to 8.62. He was the only quarterback in the NFL to start all 16 regular season games and finish in the top five in completion percentage, yards per attempt and touchdown passes.
Garoppolo has said this offseason was drastically different than last year’s when his focus was rehabbing the injury and, in essence, re-learning how to run and function as a quarterback.
This year, Garoppolo is focused on areas of his game to improve now that he’s further removed from the knee injury — and there’s even a chance coach Kyle Shanahan utilizes Garoppolo’s improved mobility because of it.
“It’s night and day compared to where I was last year at this time,” Garoppolo said Aug. 4. “This time last year it was more so getting back into being in a live pocket, having live bullets flying around me and getting used to that.
“We’re passed that, haven’t really thought about it in a long time. As far as the mobility and things like that, it’s whatever Kyle calls for. I think my knee’s in a good position — it’s able to do whatever it needs to do at this point.”
It’s unknown if Garoppolo plans on wearing the brace for games when they begin Sept. 13 against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers haven’t had an official practice yet beyond walk throughs. They will continue its acclimation period before the first padded practice Aug. 17.
Ward plans to stick at safety, but might be moved around
Jimmie Ward made it clear last year he wanted to stick at his natural position of free safety after being moved around the secondary during his first five NFL seasons. He said Tuesday he doesn’t plan on switching positions now that he signed his three-year, $28.5 million contract in the spring.
He was asked about his versatility and the possibility of playing cornerback, as he did in 2016 and 2017, in case COVID-19 depletes the position.
“Last time I checked, I signed a contract to play safety,” Ward said. “But, you know, if anything happens I got to be open minded, I got to do whatever’s best for the team.”
One of the reasons Ward appealed to former 49ers general manager Trent Baalke was his versatility, which led to getting taken with a first-round pick in the 2014 draft. And while Ward appears settled at safety, that doesn’t mean he’ll only line up in the deep middle of the field.
The 49ers during the Super Bowl utilized Ward’s man-to-man skills while bringing in Tarvarius Moore to play safety. Ward was moved down to the line of scrimmage to cover tight end Travis Kelce and other pass catchers mostly on third downs. Ward was coy about the way he’ll be used in 2020.
“I just feel like if I tell you more details about that I’m kind of giving away the game plan. I don’t want other teams to hear how they’re going to use me,” he quipped. “Just make sure you watch that first game because I could be anywhere. Could be playing safety, could be man coverage, could be blitzing, could be playing zone, who knows? We’ll see.”
▪ The 49ers were fortunate to keep most of their coaching staff in place after last year’s run, save for secondary coach/passing game coordinator Joe Woods, who was hired by the Cleveland Browns to be their defensive coordinator.
San Francisco has since hired Tony Oden to replace Woods. Oden has been coaching in the NFL since 2004 and has worked for the Texans, Saints, Jaguars, Buccaneers, Lions and most recently the Dolphins where he served as defensive backs coach.
Ward, who has the chops to coach after his playing career, was asked about Oden’s coaching style.
“I like him, he’s more aggressive, but he’s really fundamentally sound, too,” said Ward. “I like his energy so far. But as of right now, we’re all still learning each other since there were no OTAs. So we’re trying to build chemistry right now.”
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 2:49 PM.