49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo says ankle is 'feeling great' ahead of game vs. Rams

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is feeling much better about his sore right ankle heading into Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams than he did last weekend when he was benched during what became a blowout loss to the Miami Dolphins. 

"As far as the ankle, it's feeling great this week," Garoppolo told reporters on Friday, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN. "It really is. It's made a lot of improvements, just that couple extra days it consistently gets better. So, just one of those things you have just got to keep working at it."

The 28-year-old sprained the ankle during a Week 2 contest at the New York Jets and missed back-to-back games before being cleared last Friday to start against the Dolphins. That appearance went poorly for Garoppolo, who completed only seven of 17 passes for 77 yards with a pair of interceptions before coach Kyle Shanahan pulled his starter at halftime in favor of backup C.J. Beathard. Shanahan said on Friday:

"I'm not thinking about the ankle and I don't think he is going into the game. I think you try to get to a point where you're healthy enough to play which a lot of guys are at but a lot of guys have injuries they've got to play through. ... I think Jimmy's in a better spot this week than he was last week, so I don't think about the ankle in that case. I expect him to go out and play well and that's how I'll judge him."

The Rams enter the weekend with the league's second-best pass defense (197.8 yards per game) behind only the Indianapolis Colts (179.6).