Jimmy Garoppolo likely wouldn't get his job back in the playoffs if Steve Mariucci was in charge of the Niners ... the ex-head coach tells TMZ Sports he'd stay with Brock Purdy in the postseason in order to "ride the hot hand."
Garoppolo broke his foot back on Dec. 4 -- but with a recovery timetable of 7-8 weeks ... there's a chance he could be ready in time for the NFC Championship Game, or even the Super Bowl.
Mooch, though, said out at LAX last week that if SF gets that far -- and Purdy is still playing well -- he'd keep Jimmy G on the bench.
.@49ers @brockpurdy13 to @gkittle46 for a TD. The “safe throw” is sometimes the best option…but for Purdy why play safe if you can rip the jugular vein wide open and make the opponent bleeeeed. #BaldysBreakdowns pic.twitter.com/YKozR6mPYj
— Brian Baldinger (@BaldyNFL) December 16, 2022
"If Brock Purdy keeps playing like he's playing right now -- which is unbelievable -- I don't know that you change that," said Mariucci, who was the Niners' head coach from 1997-2002.
"If he's got the hot hand going in, I'd probably be more inclined just to stay with the hot hand."
Purdy has been dominant in his 2-plus games as Garoppolo's fill-in, logging 612 passing yards, 6 passing TDs and a single INT since taking over for Jimmy G.
Mariucci clearly believes it hasn't been a fluke run ... telling us the Niners are one of the two teams that he thinks could represent the NFC in this year's Super Bowl -- even with Purdy under center.