San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was seemingly unfazed by the idea of potentially playing backup to Tom Brady for a second time in his career.
In an interview with The Athletic, Garoppolo discussed what it was like for him when Brady was rumored to be a possible option for the 49ers before the future Hall of Famer signed a two-year contract with the Buccaneers.
“It’s the NFL,” said Garoppolo, who served as Brady’s backup for four seasons in New England. “There’s competition. Everyone’s trying to put the best team together they can. And that’s just the reality of it.
“The one thing I can say about the whole situation was Kyle and John were very honest with me the whole time,” he added. “That’s their job — to put the best team together possible and you’ve got to respect that. So as long as the honesty and truthfulness is there, I respect those guys, I love those guys. And it’s going to be a fun year this year.”
In April, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the organization mulled over the possibility of bringing in the four-time Super Bowl MVP.
“We looked into it to try to see if it would be better for our team this year and in the future,” he told the “TK Show” podcast. “And when we weighed it all together, we didn’t think it would. And we felt great with where we’re at. Kind of confirmed how we are with Jimmy.”
In 2019, Garoppolo was 22-yards short of becoming the first 49ers quarterback with 4,000 passing yards since Jeff Garcia in 2000. The 28-year-old helped lead San Francisco to the No. 1 seed in the NFC and to the Super Bowl in his first full season as an NFL starting quarterback.
The 28-year-old has been running players-only throwing sessions at San Jose State for the last two months while league facilities were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The league plans to officially begin training camps next month and open the season in early September.