49ers bemoan missed chances, peer toward Lions
Sporting Green // San Francisco 49ers
Ron Kroichick Sep. 10, 2018 Updated: Sep. 10, 2018 11:26 p.m.
1of6San Francisco 49ers offensive guard Joshua Garnett is carted off the field after getting injured during the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)Photo: Jim Mone / Associated Press
2of6MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Marquise Goodwin #11 of the San Francisco 49ers is helped off the field after sustaining an injury in the first half of the game against the Minnesota Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)Photo: Hannah Foslien / Getty Images
3of6MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: Minnesota Vikings Defensive Tackle Sheldon Richardson (93) trips up San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) during an NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers on September 9, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the 49ers 24-16.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Photo: Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
4of6San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo drops back to pass during the second half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn)Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn / Associated Press
5of6MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 09: After sacking San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo (10) Minnesota Vikings Defensive End Danielle Hunter (99) and Minnesota Vikings Defensive End Everson Griffen (97) kick down an imaginary door during an NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the San Francisco 49ers on September 9, 2018 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings defeated the 49ers 24-16.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Photo: Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
6of6San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan watches from the sideline during the first half of an NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)Photo: Jim Mone, Associated Press
Head coach Kyle Shanahan found no magical cure on the video. Alfred Morris still fumbled on the 1-yard-line, George Kittle still dropped a pass when he was wide open, Jimmy Garoppolo still threw three interceptions.
Nope, video doesn't lie.
Shanahan, while clearly frustrated with his 49ers offense squandering several tantalizing chances in Sunday's 24-16, season-opening loss to Minnesota, did see reasons for encouragement. Start with Garoppolo, the savior quarterback who absorbed his first loss as an NFL starter.
He didn't sulk or dodge blame, to hear Shanahan tell it during his weekly news conference Monday in Santa Clara. Shanahan described Garoppolo as "exactly how you'd want him to be" in the wake of the defeat — he acknowledged his mistakes and started peering ahead to Sunday's home opener against Detroit.
"You never know until you go through that with guys," Shanahan said. "Jimmy's had a lot of success in the games he's played, but he's a guy you don't have to beat around the bush with.
"Even talking to him on the plane, he knows the plays he missed. He's disappointed when he misses a play, so that makes him fun to coach. You can be honest with him. You can keep it real with him."
Those three interceptions were all too real. So was Morris' second-quarter fumble, with the 49ers marching downfield (on a 14-play drive) and threatening to erase Minnesota's 10-3 lead at the time.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan talks about his offense's troubles in the red zone during Sunday's season-opening loss to Minnesota.
Video: SFChronicle
That turnover highlighted a wider issue: Even though they gained 327 yards against a premier defense, the 49ers repeatedly stalled in the red zone. They scored only one touchdown in four trips inside Minnesota's 20-yard-line, emerging with two field goals and the fumble on their other trips.
"It's the same for every other team in the NFL — it gets harder the tighter you get," Shanahan said of these red-zone woes.
One of Sunday's complications — injuries to guards Mike Person and Joshua Garnett — could linger into Week 2. Shanahan wasn't sure if Person and Garnett would be available to face the Lions on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
Shanahan said Person strained his foot and Garnett dislocated his toe against Minnesota. That forced rookie right tackle Mike McGlinchey to move to guard for most of the second half, with Garry Gilliam replacing McGlinchey.
"We don't know how long it's going to be, but the good news is nothing was broken," Shanahan said of Person and Garnett. "No (injured reserve) or anything, but we have to see how they respond to treatment during the week, whether they have a chance to play this week."
Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin (deep thigh bruise) is listed as day-to-day, according to Shanahan, and linebacker Brock Coyle is in the concussion protocol.
If Person and Garnett can't play Sunday, the 49ers might turn to Matt Tobin, a onetime starter for Philadelphia who spent last season as a reserve guard with Seattle. The 49ers also have a guard on the practice squad, rookie Zack Golditch from Colorado State.
Among the other topics Shanahan covered Monday:
•On cornerback Richard Sherman's 49ers debut: "I thought he did a really good job, it was good for him just to get out there. Anytime you're coming out after a big injury like he had last year, there's some anxiety. I think he was happy with it."
•On the Morris/Matt Breida combination at running back: "A number of times, I thought they both got more than what we blocked for. We're still trying to get a feel with how to balance out the two guys."
•On McGlinchey: "I was so impressed with him. … It was his first NFL game, he had never played guard and you could see there was nothing about him that was scared to try it. He didn't flinch at all."
Ron Kroichick is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: rkroichick@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ronkroichick
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Ron Kroichick has worked at the San Francisco Chronicle since 1995, when he came from the Sacramento Bee. He is the paper's golf columnist, covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, all major championships in Northern California (including the 2019 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach) and writing a weekly column on the game's personalities and trends. He also writes features on the Warriors during NBA season, and on various other topics – ranging from major-league baseball and the NFL to college football and basketball – the rest of the year.
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