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Monday brought word that 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is dealing with a chipped bone and torn ligament in his right thumb and the injury kept him out of practice as the team returned from a mini-bye following last Thursday’s loss to the Titans.
It also creates some doubt about whether he’ll be able to play when the 49ers face off with the Texans this Sunday. The 49ers would turn to first-round pick Trey Lance if Garoppolo is not able to go and he has not been on the field since playing five snaps in a Week 11 win over the Jaguars.
While Lance hasn’t seen any game action, he has seen reps in practice and head coach Kyle Shanahan gave his work in those sessions a strong review when speaking to reporters on Monday.
“I think this last month with Trey has been his best consecutive four weeks of practice since we’ve had him,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “He’s had a number of good days, and he’s had some bad days like most guys do. But as far as his consistency and stuff, I feel this last month has been his best.”
Most of Lance’s work hasn’t come with the first team and there’s obviously a difference between practice and game action, so it’s hard to know how that work would translate to seeing the field on Sunday. The coming days should provide more insight into whether we’re going to find out.
