George Kittle praises Jimmy Garoppolo, raves about Trey Lance’s progression

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle has always been a supporter of Jimmy Garoppolo, and he’s backing Trey Lance as well. It’s no surprise, then, that Kittle has good insight on the relationship between the two quarterbacks.

Kittle explained that influence in a funny way on a Friday appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” Kittle admitted Garoppolo could have been a “d–k” after the 49ers drafted Lance third overall in 2021, but instead focused on mentoring the rookie during the season.

“The lucky thing that we have here at the Niners is I feel like we have a fantastic culture of guys that just want to get better every day and we love everybody in the locker room,” Kittle said. “Jimmy G could have been a d–k and said ‘No, it’s not my job, not my responsibility to take care of this guy and put him under my wing.’ But instead what he did is he was professional every single day, he didn’t complain one time, he showed up, worked, started, he got us to the NFC Championship Game, and helped Trey along the way.

“I thought Trey took a bunch of steps forward, and for Trey to become a really good quarterback in the NFL, he needs reps. Once this kid gets a lot of reps, just watch out, because some of the things I’ve seen him do in practice kind of mind-boggle me.”

Kittle’s endorsement is definitely notable considering the rumors about Lance’s iffy progression. He also notably goes out of his way to praise Garoppolo. After all, fairly or not, some quarterbacks have not been receptive to a mentoring role, but Garoppolo certainly was. Kittle thinks the team is much better off for it.