San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo had surgery on Wednesday to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced.Shanahan provided no further details and said it’s way too early to determine a time frame for Garoppolo’s return, but most ACL recoveries require at least seven to nine months. Previous reports said the team worried about damage to Garoppolo’s medial collateral ligament as well. The full extent of damage from such a knee injury often remains unknown until surgery.Garoppolo injured the knee in Week 3 while scrambling in the fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs. He planted hard on his left leg to cut inside instead of out of bounds, and the knee buckled as he took a big hit.C.J. Beathard took over as the starter and is 23 of 37 for 298 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a game-plus of work.Garoppolo finished the 2018 season 53 of 89 for 718 yards, five touchdowns and three picks.The 49ers made him the highest-paid player in the NFL, at the time, with a five-year, $137.5 million deal during the offseason. The contract included $74.1 million guaranteed.In 26 career games (10 starts) with the 49ers and New England Patriots, Garoppolo has thrown for 2,968 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. This is the second time he has missed games due to injury; he sprained the AC joint in his shoulder in his second career start in 2016 and missed two games.
