Marquise Goodwin had another break out game on Sunday and once again it came shortly after a personal tragedy. Goodwin revealed after the 49ers’ 25-23 win over the Titans on Sunday that his biological father passed away earlier this week. This comes just a month after his infant son passed away shortly after being born premature, hours before the 49ers game against the Giants.
“I’ve been dealing with a lot,” Goodwin told reporters after the game. “I’m blessed. I’m thankful for the opportunity. God has shown me so much in this season. I had a lot going on this year losing my baby, and I just recently lost my biological father this week. It’s just been a lot, but I really didn’t let the outside negative energy affect how I play, how I approach this game or how I come to work each day. I just kind of stayed positive and kept my mind fresh, and I relied on God to bring me through all of the situations that I’ve been through.”
Goodwin continued his stellar play since the 49ers made the switch to Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback. Goodwin had his second 100 yard game in a row, catching 10 passes for 114 yards on Sunday.
“Marquise has been unbelievable,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said. “I think he’s made a huge jump throughout this year. We put a lot of pressure on ‘Quise going into this year. He had never started before, and we brought him here to do that for us. He had some up-and-down times at the beginning. By no means would I say he played bad, but he just wasn’t as consistent. He’s fought through that and, anytime you see guys who go out there and they get the pressure of starting, all of them are going to have some successes and some failures. It’s just, how do they respond to it?”
Goodwin’s last three games with Garoppolo have helped him post career highs in receptions (51) and yards (897) this season. With Jimmy G as his quarterback, Goodwin has 24 receptions for 319 yards, catching 73 percent of the passes thrown his way (15-of-24 targets). Apparently he made an impression on the new QB shortly after his arrival.
“‘Quise is one of the first guys that came up when I first got here and said hi to me and introduced himself,” Garoppolo said. “He’s just a hard worker. You really got to tip your hat to that. The extra time that we put in — not even just with him, but with all the skill position players — the extra meetings we have, the stuff in practice, the extra routes, it’s starting to pay off now.”