Report: Jimmy Garoppolo suffered chipped bone, ligament tear in injured thumb
It sounds like Jimmy Garoppolo's thumb injury is worse than a sprain.
Shortly after the San Francisco 49ers announced that their quarterback sustained a sprained thumb on his throwing hand, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported that he has a chipped bone and torn ligament in the injured thumb.
Garoppolo suffered the injury during the first half of Thursday's loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan initially revealed the injury Monday, telling reporters that Garoppolo sustained a "sprain" while being being sacked in the second quarter. He said that Garoppolo might play Sunday against the Houston Texans, but that his condition will need to improve. He missed practice Monday.
"We'll see how it is Wednesday," Shanahan said. "Hopefully it gets better."
The injury appeared to take place during this sack by defensive end Denico Autry that drove Garoppolo into the turf:
Here's the play that Kyle Shanahan references with regards to when Jimmy Garoppolo's "right thumb" injury occurs.
Gets taken down by Denico Autry and also fumbles the ball on this play.
Bigger question is -- if he knew he was hurt then, why wasn't he taken out? pic.twitter.com/wTNA5tZQNO— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) December 27, 2021
Shanahan: Injury impacted Garoppolo's play
Shanahan told reporters that a third-quarter Garoppolo interception was impacted by the injury. Garoppolo threw two interceptions in the 20-17 loss while completing 26 of 35 pass attempts for 322 yards with a touchdown.
Garoppolo threw his first interception into the end zone prior to his injury, thwarting a 49ers drive. His second interception set up a Titans touchdown. He also missed a wide open Kyle Juszczyk in the first quarter on a deep pass that would have likely resulted in a touchdown if successful. That miss took place before his thumb injury.
Will Trey Lance start in heat of playoff race?
If Garoppolo can't play against the Texans, then rookie Trey Lance is next on the depth chart. The No. 3 pick in April's draft hasn't thrown a pass since a Week 5 start against the Arizona Cardinals in place of an injured Garoppolo. He has completed 25 of 48 passes (52.1%) for 354 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in limited action.
The 49ers dropped to 8-7 with Thursday's loss. With five playoff spots clinched in the NFC, the 49ers would make the playoffs as the No. 6 seed if the postseason started this weekend. They finish their season on the road against the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams in Week 18 after facing the Texans on Sunday.
