Jimmy Garoppolo wouldn't let down 49ers knowing eyes were on him in rehab

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SANTA CLARA – Jimmy Garoppolo knows there is always a chance a set of eyes are on him, and that served as motivation during his time rehabbing at the 49ers’ practice facility during the early months of this offseason.

It will be another week before the coaching staff will be allowed to work with Garoppolo on the practice field, but there was nothing keeping Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch from keeping tabs on his movements from afar.

At one point in the offseason, Lynch said he looked out his window and got fired up when he saw Garoppolo throw a pass to running back Jerick McKinnon as the two players rehabbed from ACL injuries.

“He was a couple weeks ahead of me and everything so I was trying to play a little catch-up game with him,” Garoppolo said. “But we never know when those guys are watching. The windows are hard to see through. They must put tints on them or something.”

[RELATED: Jimmy Garoppolo, Jerick McKinnon lean on each other during rehab]

Garoppolo said he likes knowing that the higher-ups in the organization might be watching from their upstairs offices, which overlook the team’s weight room and practice field.

“It actually kind of turns it into more of a practice, kind of ramps you up a little bit, gets the energy going,” Garoppolo said.

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Garoppolo said he is steadily rounding into form after the Week 3 injury to his left knee. He will undoubtedly wear a brace on his left knee, he said. He said he wore a brace during his rookie season with the New England Patriots as a preventative measure.

“I never played with one before in college or high school or anything like that,” he said. “So it was different. But these new ones that they got are titanium, lightweight. It’s like you’re not wearing anything sometimes.”

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