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It’s been a preseason of ups and downs for 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who was absolutely terrible in his first game but much better in his second. Part of that is by design.

Garoppolo told KNBR that he likes trying things like throwing into coverage during the preseason to see how his receivers fight for the ball.

“A big part of that is it still being preseason, or in practice, you try things like that,” Garoppolo said, via NBCSportsBayArea.com. “You know, during a real game, you wouldn’t make that throw or that decision, but there’s a trust factor between quarterback and . . . whoever’s catching the ball. The more you try those things, you see who’s going to make the play for you in a crucial situation.”

Garoppolo is known to look better in regular season games than he does in preseason or in practice, so perhaps there’s something to this. The 49ers are counting on Garoppolo to look the way he did during his most extensive regular season action, at the end of the 2017 season.