4 decisions that backfired on SF 49ers in 2020

No. 1: SF 49ers rushing Jimmy Garoppolo back from his first ankle injury

Week 2 against the NY Jets was awfully brutal for San Francisco.

Not only did the team lose defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas to season-ending ACL tears, it also watched quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffer a high-ankle sprain on a late hit by Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.

San Francisco 49ers

Garoppolo finished out the half before giving way to Nick Mullens, then ended up being sidelined with the injury for the next two weeks before making a premature return in Week 5 against the Dolphins where he clearly wasn’t right, tossing two interceptions in the process before being pulled in the second half.

True, Garoppolo bounced back the following week against the LA Rams with three touchdown passes. But it was clear he was having difficulty trying to plant on his injured ankle. Passes floated, and there was an overall lack of accuracy.

Then, in Week 8 against the Seahawks, Garoppolo suffered another ankle sprain and was pulled, the injury being of the season-ending variety, as things turned out.

It’s understandable, at least at the time, why the SF 49ers wanted to get Jimmy G back into the fray as soon as possible. Ugly losses like those against the Eagles mandated a push, and Garoppolo was and is a clear upgrade over both Mullens and C.J. Beathard.

Yet the Niners would have been wiser to sit Garoppolo until he was much more recovered, which wasn’t the case.

Instead, fans were “treated” to eight remaining games with Mullens and Beathard at the helm, contests which produced just two more wins in the process.