Ian Rapoport Suggests Betting Played a Role in Jimmy Garoppolo Injury Revelation

The legalization of sports betting across many states in the U.S. has completely changed the way the NFL is covered and discussed. Apparently, it's also changing how transparent teams are with injury updates.

Yesterday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan revealed Jimmy Garoppolo suffered a right shoulder sprain during their win over the Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs. He didn't need to release that info because the 49ers weren't practicing, so there was no injury report. However, NFL insider Ian Rapoport seemed to indicate at least one of the reasons the 49ers released that info was because of betting.

The spread for the 49ers-Packers game reflected the news with the line moving from Packers -4.5 point favorites to start the week to now being -6.

Here's what Rap said on the Pat McAfee show with the video below (start at 40 seconds).

"It started with the Niners, because, basically when you get to the playoffs, and obviously you know like, gambling is a much bigger thing now, I mean teams have always been very transparent with injuries."

It's unclear if this was a Freudian slip or something else, but it's certainly interesting to hear an NFL insider who is employed by the NFL's media arm mentioning how betting may have played a role in that injury release.

The news has clearly been noticed by the sportsbooks, who have reacted by moving the line. Garoppolo is expected to practice today and play Sunday, but he wasn't nearly as efficient against the Cowboys after sustaining the shoulder injury. He also is dealing with a thumb injury.

Just another example of how betting is reshaping the NFL forever.