SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Kyle Shanahan Vehemently Denies Garoppolo Week 3 Lip Reading: ‘That’s Not What He Said’
Week 3 for the 49ers was full of disaster and chaos that only stems from their incredibly unlucky start to the 2022 season.
Losing your quarterback of the future (Trey Lance) in Week 2 to a season-ending ankle injury on its own is catatonic. But to lose your star left tackle a week later as well: Catastrophic.
All-Pro LT Trent Williams suffered a high ankle sprain in the third quarter Sunday at Denver, forcing him to miss the next month or so for rehab. His exit from the game left the 49ers in a vulnerable spot, unable to muster up much offense with a weakened offensive line.
Their run game was non-existent in the second half and their passing game wasn’t much better, scoring three points in the final three quarters of the contest.
Everything wasn’t going right for the Red & Gold and starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was the culprit, posting a measly 211 yards passing, 1 TD, and 1 INT in his first start of the 2022 season. Jimmy G’s frustrations eventually boiled over with head coach Kyle Shanahan, and after throwing a fourth-quarter pick he made his thoughts known on the field.
"All your plays suck man!" –#49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) September 28, 2022
Trouble brewing in San Fran again…
pic.twitter.com/5GQ9fWIsoG
Yep, that’s the quarterback clearly not happy with himself and/or the play-callers.
Or is it?
Shanahan took to the podium Thursday as the media bombarded him with questions regarding Sunday’s loss. One of those questions was if he’d seen the viral clip on social media and what his thoughts were on the matter. A veteran head coach, Shanahan stuck to his guns by denying the lip reading altogether, laughing it off that it had even been mentioned to him.
“Me and Jimmy are around each other every single day so there’s not any awkwardness from us or anything that’s come from each other. I don’t know the clip you’re talking about, I got it on my notes before this press conference, but I’m not a very good lip reader, but I probably won’t watch it,” Shanahan said.
Kyle Shanahan’s response to The Jimmy Garoppolo lip reading viral video #49ers || #FTTB
— OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) September 29, 2022
🎥: @49ers pic.twitter.com/Fgow76ufzh
The answer was deemed insufficient by reporters, asking him a follow-up regarding the speculated frustration between the two.
“That’s frustration with our whole team,” Shanahan answered sternly. “First of all, the clip to me is a joke so can’t believe we’re talking about it. I’m pretty sure that’s not what he said.”
So maybe it wasn’t what he said. But what about the other side of the exchange? Garoppolo was shown the clip of his fourth-quarter interception Thursday, also denying that he said any such thing of that nature.
“I say a lot of things,” the quarterback told Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
To watch the full press conference with Kyle Shanahan, click here.
