Jimmy Garoppolo remains unfazed by Tom Brady rumors and critics

The 49ers may have been the preferred landing spot for Tom Brady before he signed with the Buccaneers, but as rumors swirled, Jimmy Garoppolo remained confident in his position.

Garoppolo spoke to the media via video conference for the first time since the team cleaned out their lockers in February. Just a short month after leading his team to Super Bowl LIV, word leaked out that the team was interested in Garoppolo’s former Patriots teammate.

“When all that was going on, you hear about it —but I really wasn’t too worried,” Garoppolo said. “I’m always confident in my play. I know what I put out there this season — so it’s all about being confident. It’s just part of the business. I’ve seen both sides of it. I’ve been there.“

Brady may be a future Hall of Famer but Garoppolo, after one full season under his belt, is showing his comprehension of the nuances in coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense.

Garoppolo completed 329 of his 476 attempts for 3,978 yards during the regular season while racking up 27 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He finished the 2019 season with a 102.0 rating.

In comparison, Brady completed 373 of his 613 attempts for 4,057 yards, 24 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his 20th season, his 18th as a starter. His 2019 rating was 88.0 while over his career he has averaged an impressive 97.0.

“I thought it was a productive year,” Garoppolo said. “Obviously, it didn't finish the way we wanted it to, but I think there was a lot of things that went well for us. A thing that I always take pride in is being an accurate quarterback, the more accurate you are, the more yards after catch your guys could go get for you.”

“So, in our offense, it's putting the ball in the right spot, putting it in the right timing of the play and it's little things like that, that go a long way in our offense. So, I think, I was pretty happy with everything, how it went, and like I said, we just want the last game of the season to turn out a little differently.”

Garoppolo was criticized for his lack of passing in the postseason which included only 58 attempts. Through both playoff games and the Super Bowl, the 49ers quarterback completed 37 passes for 427 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

What pundits may have forgotten is that while it may have been Garoppolo’s sixth season in the league, it was not only his first full season as a starter but also his first season on a surgically repaired ACL.

“My knee definitely, it's night and day compared to where I was last year, this time,” Garoppolo said. “This time last year, it was more so getting back into being in a live pocket, having live bullets flying around me and getting used to that. So, we're past that. I haven't really thought about it in a long time.”