49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo 'not completely healthy' after offseason surgery

San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch essentially confirmed this summer that Jimmy Garoppolo would've been traded well before Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season had Garoppolo not undergone shoulder surgery in March. The 30-year-old later admitted he delayed surgery for as long as possible. 

Things may have worked out well for Lynch and company, as starter Trey Lance suffered a broken right ankle in Week 2 that will likely sideline him until some point next year. 

Per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, Garoppolo explained on the latest edition of the "The TK Show" podcast with The Athletic's Tim Kawakami that he still isn't fully recovered from his procedure. 

"Rehab is a tricky thing because they say, 'You're back. You're healthy,'" Garoppolo explained. "You're not completely back, and you're not completely healthy. I think every athlete knows that part of it. That's the tricky part, being in-season, still trying to get my arm where it needs to be because you're playing that rep game, you're trying to get reps up early in the week, control it later in the week so you're not sore on Sundays. I've never been in this situation. I don't know who has. It's a different situation. But you've just got to handle it."

Garoppolo added that he wanted to continue his rehab in Los Angeles but that the 49ers wanted him back in Santa Clara for training camp even though he spent much of the summer working out away from teammates. He eventually put pen to paper on a restructured contract to stay with the Niners for this season. 

"Jimmy G" has helped San Francisco win two of three games since Lance's injury. Per ESPN stats, he'll begin the weekend 14th among eligible quarterbacks with a 93.2 passer rating, but his 29.7 total QBR would be good for 28th out of 32 signal-callers. 

Garoppolo will look to improve his numbers and the team's record when the 2-2 49ers play at the 1-3 Carolina Panthers Sunday.