49ers: Jimmy Garoppolo has high-ankle sprain, likely out for Week 3

San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2.

The San Francisco 49ers may have scored their first victory of the season on Sunday, but that won’t be the story coming out of Week 2. And an injury suffered to starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo will assure that

Garoppolo initially went down in the first half of Sunday’s 31-13 victory over the New York Jets following an apparent low hit from defensive lineman Quinnen Williams.

No call was made on the field, but Garoppolo came up hobbling clearly favoring his right ankle. And while he stayed in the game for the rest of the half, Garoppolo was the first player to head to the locker room just before halftime.

Following some halftime tests, the 49ers opted not to send Garoppolo out in the second half with Nick Mullens brought in to replace him. And to his credit, Mullens actually fared quite well in relief of his fallen teammate.

But clearly, that wasn’t really the talking point. The game was already over well before the half. The conversation soon shifted to the unprecedented number of injuries the team was suffering.

Nick Bosa, Solomon Thomas, Raheem Mostert, and, of course, Garoppolo. Head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after the game and revealed the nature of his quarterback’s injury.

The 49ers didn’t give an encouraging update on Jimmy Garoppolo.

Shanahan said that Garropolo had suffered a high-ankle sprain and the team would take it day-to-day to determine if he would miss any time. But all indications seem to point to the fact that he will miss at least next week against the New York Giants — and perhaps more time.

A high-ankle sprain is worse than a low-ankle sprain and it’s the type of injury that could linger for weeks if not months. Some players end up needing an entire offseason to heal properly.

No matter how you look at it, this isn’t a good scenario for San Francisco.

If Garoppolo is forced to miss any time, which seems highly likely at this point, the 49ers will have to turn to Mullen to start his first game since the 2018 season. Fortunately, the team is already carrying three quarterbacks with C.J. Beathard serving as Mullen’s backup.

Now, it would be wise for the 49ers to them sign a quarterback to their practice squad in case another injury occurs. And after what we saw today, it’s impossible to rule that out.

The 49ers will be licking their wounds following Sunday’s victory. And the news regarding Garoppolo is yet another awful development from a troublesome afternoon.