The San Francisco 49ers made a rather surprising move on Sunday when they benched quarterback Brian Hoyer, and replaced him with C.J. Beathard. Hoyer was struggling in the game, completing 4 of 11 passes for 34 yards. People have been calling for him to be benched, but given the state of the rebuild and Beathard’s inexperience, the change was still a little surprising.
Following every game, the quarterback meets with the media after the head coach. Hoyer spoke after Shanahan, and was then followed by Beathard. Hoyer seemed to take the benching in stride, as it was certainly not the first time this has happened.
“Obviously you’re disappointed. I’ve been through it before. I have the utmost respect for Kyle, and I just knew nothing I was going to say was going to change his mind. I just tried to go on and be a good teammate. Tried to help C.J. as much as I could. I was happy for him. He played well.”
Now that Beathard has been named the starting quarterback, practice changes. Beathard will get the bulk of the first team reps, while Hoyer gets fairly limited first team work. I asked Hoyer what he would do to help Beathard moving forward. He spoke to that, but also talked about the need to remain ready in case anything happens and he is called on again.
“I’ve been in this situation before and C.J. is a great kid, so I’ll be there every day trying to help him as much as I can. Also, the other thing is, you never know what’s going to happen — injuries and things like that. Obviously you never wish that upon people, but that’s what happened to me in Houston and I was right back in a few weeks later, so you’ve always got to stay ready and just be ready to do your job. Being a competitor, you always want to finish what you started, but I’ve got come in every day and be professional, and do the best I can.”