Jimmy Garoppolo's preseason debut didn't go exactly as planned.
The 49ers quarterback failed to impress in his first game back from his season-ending ACL injury last September as he went 1-for-6 for zero yards and an interception for a lousy 0.0 passer rating in Monday's 24-15 win over the Broncos.
"Yeah, obviously a lot of excitement," Garoppolo said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. "Anxious to get out there and everything but nothing too crazy. It's something I haven't done in a year obviously, so got to knock the rust off and everything and thankfully we have a short week this week so we can bounce back quickly but it's the first step of getting back into it."
Despite being replaced by C.J. Beathard after three drives, Garoppolo is just glad he got all the nerves out early.
“Obviously a little frustrated but it’s the NFL,” Garoppolo said. “Unfortunately, we don’t get to play the whole game right now so I only get so many plays. You wish you could be out there for more so we could bounce back. But it is what it is. It's preseason right now, so we just have to take it in stride.”
Even though the outing wasn't pretty, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan is still convinced the exposure did Garoppolo plenty of good.
“Yeah, of course,” Shanahan said. “He’s had a year off football, and before that he only played about eight games total. The more he can play, the better. I wish we could have kept him out there longer today but you risk everyone else too, so I had to get those guys out of there.”
Garoppolo, 27, was traded from the Patriots to the Niners in 2017 and then signed a five-year contract worth $137 million with San Francisco last year before tearing his ACL in Week 3.
The Niners will visit the Chiefs on Saturday before wrapping up exhibition play at home next Thursday against the Chargers.