Kyle Juszczyk believes Jimmy Garoppolo will benefit being a year removed from his knee injury

Jimmy Garoppolo started out training camp not only free from his knee brace, but also from the mental limitations an injury can put on an athlete.

The San Francisco 49ers quarterback reported to training camp after a full season as a starter that included leading his team to Super Bowl LIV. Garoppolo spent the offseason training and preparing for the season ahead, instead of worrying about rehabbing his knee like he did in 2019.

When fullback Kyle Juszczyk spoke to the media via video conference on Tuesday, he was asked if Garoppolo seemed different.

“It’s hard to say from an outsiders perspective other than the fact that you see he’s not wearing a brace,” Juszczyk said. “That’s the biggest thing that stands out to me.

“I just know, speaking as an athlete myself, that when you don’t have to think about something, if something isn’t in the back of your mind and it’s not weighing on you, it relieves so much stress, so much pressure and you’re able to play so much more freely.

Garoppolo could be set for a vast improvement in the upcoming season being one year removed from his ACL comeback. Not that the quarterback’s play in 2019 was shabby. He completed 69.1-percent of his 476 attempts ranking him tied for fourth in the league.

Garoppolo threw for 3,978 yards during the regular season (12th) and was most recently ranked by his peers as No. 43 in the Top 100 Players of 2020.

Juszczyk thinks that having the mental freedom from injury will prove to be a benefit for Garoppolo heading into the upcoming season.

"If he’s not thinking about that knee, if it’s not even in his head, that’s going to be a huge advantage for him,” Juszczyk said. “I just know as an athlete it would make me play better and I think you’re going to see it from him.

“When you don’t have to think about that stuff, you can just go turn it loose.”