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KANSAS CITY — As Jimmy Garoppolo sat despondent inside Arrowhead Stadium’s training room, with his anterior cruciate ligament most likely torn inside his left knee, the 49ers prized quarterback had a message for his successor.
“He told me to lead these guys,” quarterback C.J. Beathard said.
This was Garoppolo’s franchise to lead, to handsomely and triumphantly steer them right here and now, to bolt them out of a four-year playoff drought and to possibly their first Super Bowl win in 24 years.
He so desperately tried leading them back Sunday from a 35-7 deficit that he blew out his knee in the process, getting carted out in the waning minutes of a 38-27 defeat in the Kansas City Chiefs’ home opener.
“It’s a knee. We fear an ACL,” said coach Kyle Shanahan, whose team fell to 1-2. “We’ll find out for sure (Monday).”
Garoppolo, channeling his high-school linebacker persona and all-out mentality, got hurt on a third-down scramble to the Chiefs 7-yard line with 5:17 remaining. His left leg bent awkwardly as he planted his foot near the sideline, just before enduring a helmet-to-helmet collision with cornerback Steven Nelson.
Garoppolo will have an MRI on Monday. He did not speak with the media afterward, and although Reuben Foster and a few players offered best wishes to him in the training room, many players didn’t even know his whereabouts or medical status before he eventually got carted up toward the team bus.
“I just see it in the face,” Foster said of Garoppolo looking glum. “I was like,’ Hey brother, we’ve got you. You just sit down and heal. We’re going to fight for you no matter what.’
“He was down.”
Just like that, there went Garoppolo’s 2018 year, which started with a massive contract (5 years, $137.5 million) after a 5-0 December debut. He went down fighting.
“Jimmy was just trying to make a play,” left tackle Joe Staley said of the fateful scramble. “We were trying to make a comeback. We felt we had the momentum. We felt we were going to get a touchdown on that drive and make it a seven-point game.”
Indeed, Garoppolo’s second touchdown pass of the game — an 11-yard throw to Goodwin — pulled them within 35-16 right out of halftime. After Alfred Morris’ 3-yard touchdown and George Kittle’s two-point conversion catch, the 49ers were within 35-24.
“He was just saying keep fighting no matter what and don’t give up,” running back Matt Breida said.
https://twitter.com/dkurtenbach/status/1043970651156107264
Patrick Mahomes and the high-scoring Chiefs (3-0) had more than enough cushion, however. Mahomes, who torched the 49ers for three touchdowns, gave Garoppolo a fist bump as he left the locker room in a cart, as he also left the field.
Garoppolo (20-of-30 for 251 yards) had no interceptions. But he got sacked four times, including on back-to-back plays immediately preceding his end-of-season scramble.
#49ers Joe Staley on losing Jimmy Garoppolo to knee injury pic.twitter.com/aCAFLixqbN
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 23, 2018
“Jimmy’s just trying to be a ballplayer and trying to make a play,” Staley repeated. “He wasn’t running out of bounds. He was trying to get some extra yards for his team.”
Outside the locker room, Garoppolo’s family anxiously waited for what must have seemed like an eternity, and further down the tight hallway, a couple 49ers staff members had tears in their eyes as they were consoled by wide receiver Marquise Goodwin.
“Anytime you lose your starting quarterback — I mean it’s, everyone — it is a big deal,” Shanahan said. “It was when we lost our starting running back, too.”
The 49ers saw an ACL tear also rob them of running back Jerick McKinnon, their high-priced addition in free agency and a dual-threat asset who got hurt a week before their season opener. McKinnon responded on Twitter to Garoppolo’s injury with a simple emoji, one of a sad face.
#49ers C.J. Beathard on Garoppolo injury: pic.twitter.com/eMiNzfQ2Z2
— Cam Inman (@CamInman) September 23, 2018
OTHER KEY IMPRESSIONS:
BAD DEFENSE: Staking the Chiefs to five touchdowns in five series put the 49ers in a 35-7 hole. Mahomes and his talented cast took advantage of the 49ers’ slew of penalties, blown coverages, multiple injuries and first-half ineptitude.
Mahomes, in his first home start, threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter gave him 13 to start the season, surpassing Peyton Manning’s 2013 record for most through three games. Poor tackling early on set up the Chiefs opening scoring drives, and Kareem Hunt easily cut through the left side of the 49ers defensive line for a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs.
Reuben Foster’s return from a two-game suspension didn’t have too positive of an impact. Malcolm Smith, relegated to a strong-side linebacker role in his 49ers debut, missed a tackle and struggled in pass coverage, as did virtually all defenders.
Before aggravating a calf injury and exiting, Richard Sherman had his best play as a 49er as he chased down Tyreek Hill at the goal-line to break up a potential 49-yard touchdown catch. But even then, Sherman appeared to interfere with Hill’s arms before the ball arrived but no penalty got called.
RASH OF INJURIES: Sherman (left calf) was done after four series, and he walked out of the locker room in an orthopedic boot. He will have an MRI on Monday for an issue that kept him out of Thursday’s practice and traces back several years, resulting in bone-chip removal this winter.
Free safety Adrian Colbert exited with a hip injury after three series. Jimmie Ward, who started in place of Ahkello WItherspoon, left with cramps early in the second half but returned. The 49ers secondary entered undermanned with Jaquiski Tartt (shoulder) inactive and replaced by Antone Exum.
Breida, the NFL’s rushing leader through Week 2, said he hyperextended his right knee 3:10 before halftime. He returned for the first series after halftime, and he finished with 10 carries for 90 yards.
Foster had to leave after Kareem Hunt landed on his chest after Foster tackled him, but Foster promptly returned. Others to leave with injuries Solomon Thomas (undisclosed). Running back Alfred Morris appeared to sustain a lower, right leg injury on a fourth-quarter run. Right guard Mike Person left earlier in the fourth quarter after apparently aggravating a foot injury.
PENALTY WOES: The 49ers stacked up 14 penalties for 147 yards, including nine for 106 yards by halftime. Three flags came on the defense’s second series, the last of which was K’Waun Williams’ pass interference in the end zone on a seemingly uncatchable pass. Antone Exum (unnecessary roughness) and Arik Armstead (illegal use of hands) also drew penalties on the drive.
Other first-half penalties: chop block (guard Mike Person), false start (left tackle Joe Staley), unnecessary roughness (Foster), 12 men on the field (defense), illegal block (Morris), offside (defensive tackle DeForest Buckner). That epidemic carried over to the second half: offside (defensive tackle Solomon Thomas), illegal block (Elijah Lee), defensive holding (Ahkello Witherspoon).
