49ers All-Pro TE George Kittle praises toughness of Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers All-Pro tight end George Kittle has long had the back of veteran quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. Even before the 49ers traded up to ultimately draft signal-caller Trey Lance third overall last spring, Kittle backed Garoppolo to remain the club's QB1 through at least the 2021 season. 

Garoppolo has stayed atop the depth chart when healthy but missed the Week 17 win over the Houston Texans with a Grade 3 sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb and a chipped bone, and he then suffered a "slight" sprain to his right (throwing) shoulder in the second quarter of this past Sunday's playoff win at the Dallas Cowboys. Kittle offered praise for his banged-up quarterback while speaking with reporters Wednesday ahead of this coming Saturday's must-win matchup at the Green Bay Packers. 

"It's football. You get banged up all the time," Kittle said, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "You land weird, and you get hit weird. You wouldn't be this far into your career if you just kind of said, 'I've got to tap out. I'm sore,' or 'That hurt a little bit too much.' Football's a tough sport. You've got to grind through things. You just kind of have to bite the bullet and say, 'This is going to really suck for the rest of the game, or maybe the rest of the season, but I'm just going to deal with it.'

"Jimmy, he could have tapped out and said, 'Hey, I can't go anymore. You guys are on your own,' but he didn't. He took a week off and came back and played at a very high level since. That's what you appreciate about him. He doesn't give up, just keeps grinding, and he's continually leading this team to victories and giving us opportunities to play more football."

Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel added he expects Garoppolo will throw the football "well" in practice after the 30-year-old was limited on Tuesday. It's widely believed Garoppolo will start in Green Bay even if he won't be back to 100% until after he has surgery on his thumb at some point this winter.