Is Jimmy Garoppolo getting too much blame for 49ers' struggles?

Jimmy Garoppolo and the San Francisco 49ers' offense looked out of sync and disconnected in the team's 11-10 loss to the Denver Broncos this past Sunday night.

The 30-year-old Garoppolo was sacked four times and turned the ball over twice in his first start of the season. He was called for a safety after stepping out of the end zone while throwing a pass that was picked off and returned for a touchdown by Denver's Bradley Chubb, which would have counted had he not stepped out.

Needless to say, things did not go Garoppolo's way Sunday night, and the 49ers faithful were not shy in directing criticism at their now-starting quarterback. 

In fact, one former 49ers player took it to another level, hopping on a local radio show to share his displeasure with Garoppolo's performance.

"I am laying the blame, I don’t do this very often, in fact I don’t do it hardly at all, Jimmy Garoppolo was horrible," former Niners tight end Brent Jones said to KNBR Tuesday. "What the heck? When you’re a professional football player and quarterback, you know where the back of the end zone is. That was so outrageous. While I was yelling, ‘What are you thinking?’ He’s throwing a pick-six, so I’m rooting for a safety."

Following the conclusion of Sunday night's game, television cameras caught Garoppolo smiling in an exchange with Broncos offensive lineman Cam Fleming. The two played together for three seasons with the New England Patriots.

Jones did not take kindly to that visual.

"I've got to say, and I don’t think I’ve ever said this before, after you played horrible and you’re the reason your team lost the game, you do not smile and go glad-handing the other team after the game," Jones said. "I’ve never seen that from any quarterback ever, that has ever been any good.

"You think Russell Wilson is laughing after he throws a pick, steps out of the end zone for a safety and fumbles a ball and plays horrible and his team’s 1-2 and the reason they lost the game? It almost looked like he didn’t even care. It was so frustrating, and maybe I was just mad because the game was so ugly. If that’s me, I’m running for the locker room. I am not smiling, I am not talking to anybody for a week if you play like that. I just don’t get his disposition, but that was really frustrating."

Jones was adamant that he – as a retired football player – was more bothered by the loss than Garoppolo appeared to be.

Colin Cowherd came to Garoppolo's defense during Wednesday's airing of "The Herd", arguing that there are plenty of reasons to cut him some slack.

"Kyle Shanahan said this week that Jimmy Garoppolo's not in game shape yet," Cowherd contended. "Because they were trying to make the Trey Lance thing work, they didn't even let him practice. This is the first time in nine months Jimmy G took all the snaps for an entire week. Of course he's going to struggle.

"Let me defend Garoppolo: Maybe he doesn't feel all-in because they've talked about drafting another quarterback for two years, and trading him for two years. And then they did draft that quarterback, and though he was better, he was not given a playbook or allowed to play with the team … as trade rumors circulated the entire time. Would you be all-in? All Jimmy Garoppolo has done since he arrived there [is] been a good soldier, played hurt, beat Aaron Rodgers, I think three times, got to a Super Bowl. … We all have limits, and for two years he's just been a great soldier." 

"First Things First" host Nick Wright was less forgiving.

"I'm just curious what playbook he would've needed to know you're not allowed to run out of the back of the end zone?" Wright asked on Cowherd's show. "What page of the playbook was that? This was a game where Jimmy G went full [Dan] Orlovsky, and it was not one of the two worst plays he made in the game. It wasn't even the worst play he made on that play! A second later, he did the old eyes closed pick-six, and an hour later, he threw the game-losing interception. … What could Trey Lance have done Sunday night that would've been more damaging than what Jimmy Garoppolo did?

"All we have is a half decade of evidence that this is who Jimmy Garoppolo is. I don't know why otherwise intelligent people defend him as an above-average quarterback. Is he that handsome? It can't be just that he's that handsome, there are other handsome quarterbacks. But that's fine, you can enjoy those 10 points his team miraculously got as he gave the game away."

Garoppolo and the 49ers are set to host the Los Angeles Rams in a much-anticipated NFC West showdown on Monday night at Levi's Stadium.