49ers to keep Jimmy Garoppolo starting QB for Bears game

The San Francisco 49ers dropped their fourth straight game and fell to 2-4 on the season via a Sunday night 30-18 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and head coach Kyle Shanahan suggested after the defeat that he could start rookie Trey Lance over veteran Jimmy Garoppolo for this Sunday’s matchup at the 3-4 Chicago Bears if Lance was recovered enough from the knee sprain that kept him out of the Indianapolis contest. 

However, Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk noted Monday that Shanahan is keeping Garoppolo his starter for at least one more week. 

“We didn’t go into the game thinking Jimmy Garoppolo was one game away from losing his job,” Shanahan explained, while adding his post-loss comments were more about Garoppolo’s health than about expressing doubt in the signal-caller. Garoppolo suffered a calf contusion earlier this month and admitted after Sunday’s loss that he isn’t 100% healthy.  

“Trey hasn’t practiced in two weeks, so when he does come back, he’ll probably be limited as it is,” Shanahan elaborated. “Odds are when it comes to the game plan, you’re not going to start rotating quarterbacks, because it’s not an open competition right now.” 

While playing in difficult conditions at a rain-soaked Levi’s Stadium, Garoppolo completed 16-of-27 passes for 181 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for a 60.9 passer rating with a lost fumble against the Colts. As David Bonilla wrote for 49ers WebZone, NFL Network personality Rich Eisen said on his Monday national program that Garoppolo “looks so lost” this fall.