Niners fear Garoppolo suffered serious knee injury…

Jimmy Garoppolo likely tore ACL in 49ers’ 38-27 at Kansas City

Eric Branch

https://www.sfchronicle.com/49ers/article/Jimmy-Garoppolo-sustains-knee-injury-in-49ers-13251683.php

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 49ers have endured more humiliating losses in Kansas City than the one they endured Sunday, but none more devastating.

In a September defeat that felt, in some ways, like the end of their season, they fear they lost franchise quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for the season with a torn ACL in a 38-27 loss to the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

Garoppolo was injured late in the fourth quarter when his left knee buckled before he absorbed a huge hit from cornerback Steven Nelson along the left sideline at the end of a 13-yard run. Garoppolo immediately grabbed for his left knee and was carted to the locker room after spending several minutes in the medical tent on the sideline.

After the game, teammates wandered from the locker room into an adjacent training room to check on Garoppolo. At one point, he sat shirtless on a table with several members of the medical staff around him. He later exited the training room on crutches and asked members of the team staff where he could find his family members who had attended the game.

Inside linebacker Reuben Foster was among the players who checked on Garoppolo, and he immediately knew his injury was serious based on his expression.

“I just see in his face, and he was just like,” Foster said, shaking his head. “I was like, ‘Hey, brother, we’ve got you. … We’re going to fight for you no matter what.’ He was down. With an injury like that, you have no choice but to be down.”

Before Garoppolo’s injury, the 49ers already had dealt with another nightmare at Arrowhead. After losing their previous three games in Kansas City by a combined score of 116-19, they trailed 35-10 at halftime. In the first half, the Chiefs’ five possessions featured touchdown drives of 57, 84, 75, 72 and 68 yards.

Still, if not for Garoppolo’s injury, the loss wouldn’t have beencrushing: The 49ers entered as underdogs to an unbeaten team and are now 1-2 with 13 games left to play.

The postgame scene made it clear more than a game had been lost.

Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin exited the locker room and quietly embraced CEO Jed York’s twin sisters, Jenna and Mara, who looked emotional.

Goodwin said the loss of Garoppolo was a “downer,” tight end George Kittle said it “sucks,” left tackle Joe Staley termed it a “bummer.”

Foster, who said it was “heartbreaking,” succinctly summed up what it meant to lose the quarterback who last year led a 1-10 team to a 5-0 finish. “We had big hopes for Jimmy,” Foster said. “He made us who we are.”

In the aftermath, head coach Kyle Shanahan and various players uttered variations on the NFL maxim of “next man up.”

CB Ahkello Witherspoon: After a rugged performance in Week 2, he was benched and replaced by Jimmie Ward, before entering when Richard Sherman was hurt. In the second half, he committed two more penalties (holding, pass interference), bringing his total to four in the past two games.

RB Matt Breida: After entering as the NFL’s rushing leader, he survived a first-half injury scare and had 90 yards on 10 carries.

And for the 49ers, it will be C.J. Beathard. Last year, as a rookie, Beathard started five games after Brian Hoyer was benched. Beathard had a 1-4 record and 69.2 passer rating while earning high marks for his grit and toughness.

On Sunday, on the first play after Garoppolo was injured, Beathard tossed an apparent 7-yard touchdown to Kittle on 4th-and-goal, but the score was negated by a pass-interference penalty.

The 49ers settled for a field goal to trim the deficit to 38-27 with 5:12 left, but the Chiefs responded with three first downs to run out the clock.

Minutes later, Shanahan opened his news conference with the biggest news.

“With Jimmy, it’s a knee,” he said. “We fear an ACL.”

Later, Shanahan was asked about looking ahead to the rest of the season without Garoppolo, who signed a $137.5 million contract in the offseason based on last year’s perfect finish.

“We will show up tomorrow and we will be men about it,” Shanahan said. “… It is part of the NFL season and that is what you have to do. We all feel for Jimmy, there’s no doubt about it.”

When Garoppolo went down, left guard Laken Tomlinson said fear began to “creep in” and Staley hoped Garoppolo had sustained a concussion.

At the time of his injury, Garoppolo had thrown for 251 yards and two touchdowns and had the 49ers just 7 yards away from trimming a 28-point hole to a touchdown.

In reviewing the game, Staley noted the 49ers’ inability to play consistently well for four quarters this season.

“We’re really trying to take that next step,” he said. “We’re trying so effing hard to take that next step.”

Now, because of one disastrous step by Garoppolo, it’s appears quite possible the 49ers won’t be taking that next step in a season that just began.