Shanahan ‘didn’t think it was gonna be possible’ for Jimmy G to prove himself way he did

On Oct. 29, the 49ers lost to the Eagles, 33-10, to fall to 0-8.

Two days later, they acquired Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots.

"Jimmy kind of fell into our laps for a second-round pick," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan recently said to ESPN's Adam Schefter. "I knew how talented he was from college -- spent a lot of time on him."

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But as Shanahan explained, the 49ers were not immediately committed to Garoppolo long-term.

[MAIOCCO: Shanahan took advantage of every second to teach Garoppolo]

Shanahan's "master plan" was to pursue Kirk Cousins in free agency. There was also the possibility of targeting a quarterback in the draft.

"Jimmy went out there and played very well. In the first game, I was extremely excited. The second game, I was even more excited. By the third game, I think we all kind of forgot about free agency and about the draft," Shanahan said. "I didn't think it could be possible with the limited amount of time -- him not knowing the offense and the fact that we weren't playing very well at the time, either -- I didn't think it was gonna be possible for him to go in and prove himself the way he did.