49ers in Five: Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t like getting pulled for Trey Lance

Jimmy Garoppolo has gotten a lot of praise for how professionally he’s handled the potentially awkward situation with Trey Lance so far this season. For the first time, however, we may have seen a bit of a crack in that professionalism during an interview on KNBR yesterday.

During the game on Sunday, Garoppolo hugged Trey Lance after his touchdown pass. Fox analyst Mark Sanchez commented, “those aren’t easy hugs to give.” Here’s what Jimmy said when asked about that comment.

“He’s not wrong,” Garoppolo said while laughing slightly, “No, it is what it is type of situation. It’s one of those; we had a good drive, marched down there. Kyle called the package, and he’s the head coach. Whatever he calls, goes. Just one of those things, you can only control what you can control. I’m out there with my boys, making the best of it, having a good time. At the end of the day, we’re playing football, trying to get a win. Whatever it takes. It is what it is, you know?”

Has anyone ever used phrases like, “making the best of it,” and, “it is what it is,” about a situation they were enjoying? When praised for his honesty about the situation, Garoppolo elaborated:

“It’s kind of one of those situations where, I know the guys in the locker room. They know me. I know where I stand with them. At the end of the day, that’s what really matters. As long as those guys got my back, I’ve got no problem doing whatever it takes to win. I don’t know, this league is crazy how things happen. You’ve just got to roll with the punches kind of, and let the chips fall as they may that the end. You know, we’ll see where everything is at the end.”

On the one hand, Garoppolo has a right to be less than thrilled about the situation. On the other hand, getting pulled in the red zone after helping to drive a team all the way down the field probably doesn’t feel too good. Especially when you know, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to sign somewhere else as a free agent next year. Teams don’t pay big money for QBs that don’t have a lot of touchdown passes on their resume.

On the other hand, the mention of the support of the guys in the locker room is surprising. I would have loved a follow-up question about that. Does he mean he knows the guys in the locker room support him over Lance? Is he implying there would be some sort of locker room mutiny if Lance were used too much? It’s impossible to know for sure, but I don’t think Garoppolo mentioned it by accident.

The potential for a locker room schism was always the danger of having Garoppolo on the roster while simultaneously developing his replacement during games. Right now, there is nothing to indicate that one has formed in San Francisco. That said, with everyone assuming a changing of the guard will take place at some point this season, it was interesting to see Jimmy G. mention there could eventually be one down the road.

For more on this, as well as how the 49ers are responding to the loss of Raheem Mostert, listen to today’s 49ers in Five podcast.