Kyle Shanahan: Ankle kept Jimmy Garoppolo from being his best

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The return of quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers lineup did not go as planned on Sunday.

Garoppolo went 7-of-17 for 77 yards and two interceptions before head coach Kyle Shanahan pulled him in favor of C.J. Beathard. Shanahan said after the 43-17 loss to the Dolphins that he felt Garoppolo’s ankle injury was contributing to his poor play and that was the reason he made the change.

“Watching how we were playing as a whole [and] watching how he was playing, you can tell he was affected by his ankle,” Shanahan said, via the team’s website. “I know he doesn’t normally throw the ball that way and I think he was struggling a little bit because of it. The way the game was going, I wasn’t going to keep putting him in those positions knowing we were going to have to throw it a lot to come back. I think it hurt him from being at his best.”

Garoppolo said he “felt” the ankle and that he hasn’t “thought that far ahead” when asked if he thought he’d be able to play against the Rams in Week Six.