It’s been a confusing few days for 49ers fans.
On Monday, Kyle Shanahan said that Jimmy Garoppolo had a sprain on the thumb of his throwing hand. He said it was not a break. It was enough for Garoppolo to miss Monday’s practice, but was also framed as a relatively minor ailment.
Minutes after the media session, two national reports seemed to dispute what Shanahan said, calling the injury more serious and involving a slight break.
On Wednesday Shanahan clarified the disconnect, saying he didn’t mention the break because it’s very minor and is an ancillary issue. He said that Garoppolo has a Grade 3 sprain and will not need surgery.
“I’ve been told he does not need surgery right now,” Shanahan said. “To clear that up, the reason that was worded that way is because that’s the way it was worded to me. There’s three types of sprains and he has a Grade 3 sprain, since I’ve got to give you guys more information to clear up Ian and Adam’s tweet.
“It is a Grade 3 sprain. The reason they never mentioned a fracture is because that really didn’t have much to do with it. On the third degree sprain that he has on his UCL ligament, when that was ripped up, it pulled off a little fleck of his bone. So whenever there’s a bone that has anything off of it, you can call it a fracture, you can call it a chip, you can call it something, but that really isn’t what is keeping him out. It’s the third degree sprain that he has, but because it’s not moving and stuff he doesn’t need surgery, and he has a chance to play this week.”
So, according to Shanahan, Garoppolo playing this week isn’t out of the question. Jimmy G agrees with that assessment.
“Yeah, definitely,” Garoppolo said when asked if he has a chance to play on Sunday. “I mean I played the entire game with it basically. It’s really just about being able to grip the ball, do the things I normally do, and we’re going to go test those out today, see how it feels and go from there.
“I feel confident in it.”
Despite Garoppolo’s confidence, the quarterback did not practice on Wednesday. He will be re-evaluated on Thursday.