Jimmy Garoppolo to start against Chicago

Jimmy Garoppolo will start for the 49ers when they travel to play the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Kyle Shanahan made that announcement during a conference call with Bay Area media Monday afternoon.
Garoppolo had his worst performance of the season in Sunday night’s 30-18 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, completing less than 60% of his passes.

The issues that have plagued the 49ers offense throughout their current four-game losing streak extend well beyond the quarterback position.

Against Indianapolis the 49ers running game gained 72 yards on their first seven attempts. After that hot start the running game  disappeared and the team gained only 39 yards on their final 17 attempts of the game.

With the run game shut down, it was up to Garoppolo and the passing game to make enough plays to secure the victory.

Starting with the final play of the first quarter through halftime, the 49ers’ passing game faltered in a number of ways: a running back fell down while running a route up the left sidelines, a right guard got beat on third down, forcing an incomplete throw on top of a dropped screen pass and a couple of inaccurate throws.

When Garoppolo finally connected with Deebo Samuel late in the second quarter, the wide receiver fumbled the ball. Indianapolis scored the go-ahead touchdown a few plays later and never relinquished the lead.

Don’t expect to see Trey Lance take over the starting job any time soon. For starters, the first-round pick is currently working his way back from what Shanahan termed as a significant injury. The 49ers hope to have Lance available for practice on Wednesday, and if everything goes as planned, he will be active on Sunday for a few plays if needed.

Despite their 2-4 record, San Francisco still has a pulse in the NFC playoff race. Expect  Garoppolo to remain the starting quarterback until the 49ers’ playoff hopes have been eliminated.

In other news, safety Jaquiski Tartt will be out for a few weeks after suffering a knee bruise against the Colts.
Trent Williams remains day to day. The left tackle was unable to play against Indianapolis due to an ankle injury that didn’t heal up as quickly as anticipated.

The team also hopes to find a resolution regarding Javon Kinlaw’s status. The defensive tackle has been dealing with a knee injury suffered in a game against Dallas last season and may end up on the injured reserve.

Dee Ford and Azeez Al-Shaair have entered the NFL concussion protocol. Both players sustained injuries on Sunday.

The 49ers also announced that DL Jordan Willis has been activated from the Reserve/Suspended List and will be granted a one-week roster exemption. The team also signed S Tony Jefferson to the team’s practice squad.