C.J. Beathard talks about 49ers debut, taking it one day at a time

Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers made a slightly notable decision in Week 6, benching quarterback Brian Hoyer, and moving rookie C.J. Beathard into the starting lineup. Hoyer got off to a slow start on Sunday, and Beathard took over late in the second quarter.

The 49ers came up short in a comeback attempt, but Shanahan was sufficiently pleased with what he saw. He announced after the game that Beathard was now the 49ers starting quarterback. It remains to be seen just how long that lasts, but he’s getting the opportunity moving forward.

Beathard met with the media following the game, and kept things pretty simple in his comments. There is a good chance he will start the 49ers remaining ten games, but he is taking things “a day at a time” as he prepares moving forward.

One big key will be getting more familiarity with his wide receivers. He talked about needing to get more reps with Pierre Garçon and the rest of the crew. He has gotten a few first team reps each practice, but this week will take over the bulk of those reps. Even still, I’d imagine he will get some extra time in with his pass catchers before and after practice.

Here’s a transcript of what Beathard had to say after Sunday’s game.

On who told him he was going in the game:

“The quarterbacks coach told me.”

On if he was nervous:

“Yeah, a little bit. But when you play, two plays in, they kind of go away.”

On the last drive:

“That’s something you dream about and unfortunately, we weren’t able to finish there but we had a lot of improvement and keep winning and keep getting better as the weeks go on.”

On WR Pierre Garçon’s offensive pass interference:

“Obviously, I mean, I don’t agree with it but that’s part of the game. You have to go in as an offense, as a defense, as a team. But you can be the judge of that one.”

On if he has thought about being relied on the rest of the season for offense:

“No, I’m just taking it a day at a time. [I’m] going to watch this tape and have stuff to learn from. It’s my first time playing in an NFL game and there’s a lot of stuff I can learn from.”

On the legacy of his grandfather, former Washington General Manager Bobby Beathard:

“Yeah, I think it’s really cool. You look up and you see Grand Pop’s name right on the stadium and I think it’s really cool. I got so much from him and I try to be just like him and chase just like him.”

On if there were any hints that this would happen:

“No, I just know as a backup that you’ve got to be ready and always prepared. Nothing was different this week.”

On how his teammates rallied around him:

“Yeah, it’s awesome. I think this team showed a lot of fight and battled hard until the end but just couldn’t get the job done. We are going to come back and get back to work on Monday and Tuesday. We have another one this week so hopefully we get a win then.”

On the offensive pass interference call:

“I thought 100 percent it was defensive pass interference. From my point of view, it looked like it wasn’t a question and then after that we’d be in really good field goal range with the penalty. We needed four more yards and that would’ve given us more than enough for Robbie [Gould] to kick the game winner. But it went the other way and that’s how the game happens sometimes.”