Joe Montana wants more from SF 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo

SF 49ers legend Joe Montana chatted with FanSided about his partnership with Guinness and also touched on the Niners’ current QB, Jimmy Garoppolo.

Quarterback play rarely flies under the radar when it comes to the SF 49ers, thanks largely to the Hall of Fame-type players in franchise history, namely Y.A. Tittle, Steve Young and Joe Montana.

So it’s no surprise fans and analysts alike turn to greats like Young and Montana to chat it up about whoever is under center for the red and gold to see how they’re doing.

And currently, the focus is on Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.

FanSided recently landed an interview with Montana, who broke down his recent partnership with Guinness and spoke at length about a number of topics surrounding today’s NFL, future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, the Kansas City Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and, of course, Garoppolo and the SF 49ers.

While the Niners have gotten off to a 4-3 start ahead of their crucial Week 8 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, Garoppolo hasn’t exactly put the offense and team on his shoulders this season.

It’s something Montana would like to eventually see out of Jimmy G sooner than later.

“As long as their defense holds up, they can keep doing it,” Montana told FanSided of the SF 49ers and Garoppolo. “You have to manage games for guys until they figure it out. They’ve had a lot of injuries on top of it, so that’s slowed him down a little bit also.

“But you also need him to be playing at the top of his game.”

Garoppolo has had his share of setbacks this season, including a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against the NY Jets that sidelined him an additional two games. When the quarterback returned in Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins, Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan benched him at halftime following a late two-interception performance, although one can fairly ask if Garoppolo’s previous injury was a factor.

Still, Montana would like to see Garoppolo perform at a better level and thinks it can happen.

“Is he playing as well as he did last year? No. Or the year before? No,” Montana added of Garoppolo, who also suffered a 2018 ACL tear that sidelined him for all but three games. “But sometimes it takes a while to come back from those injuries, in your mind more than anything. I’ve never had a serious knee injury like that. I can’t imagine the work and the thoughts of coming back and people being around your legs all the time.

“It’s a little scary for a quarterback standing still anyway. And you add that injury on top of it, so there are a lot of things that go into it, mentally.”

Last year’s mark for Garoppolo might be difficult to hit, as he reached fourth on the franchise’s all-time single-season passing-yardage list with 3,978 yards.

Montana holds spot Nos. 6 through 8 on that same list and set his own franchise high with 3,944 pass yards in 1990, albeit at a completely different time when NFL rules didn’t quite favor offense like they do today.

Either way, SF 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has benefited from Garoppolo’s presence. In games where Garoppolo has started, he’s owned a 22-7 record.

In games without Garoppolo starting, Shanahan has gone 4-21.

Still, it never hurts to take advice from San Francisco’s greatest quarterback and apply it moving forward.