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The San Francisco 49ers will start C.J. Beathard at quarterback this weekend, but Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians is planning on doing some extra preparation. The 49ers acquired Jimmy Garoppolo, and right now he is Beathard’s backup. The plan is to get him ready for game action, but Arians is going to be ready just in case. He talked to the 49ers media on Wednesday, and had this to say.
“You gotta get prepared for both. Don’t think they’re going to change offensively what they do, it’s just who’s doing it, obviously. And we played against Jimmy last year in our opener, so we have a little history there and a lot of respect for him. Also, a lot of respect for C.J. I think he’s been playing really well.”
It seems entirely unlikely Garoppolo is playing this weekend, but as the only other quarterback on the roster, he’ll be the guy they go to if Beathard gets hurt. Kyle Shanahan said that Garoppolo would be active on Sunday, and he would not make any promises about the team’s plan for their new quarterback. He would not promise Garoppolo plays this season, but he also would not promise Garoppolo does NOT play this weekend.
I would be surprised if the Cardinals did a ton of prep for Garoppolo, but they wouldn’t want to be flying completely blind against a potential replacement quarterback if Beathard got hurt. Head coach Bruce Arians did have some positive things to say about the 49ers current starting quarterback.
“Just the fact that he’s not turning it over all the time. He had a couple turnovers in that ballgame, but, it’s tough when you’re playing from behind. If you can keep it even, he is playing, in those phases of the game, when the ballgame’s even, he’s playing pretty solid for a rookie.”
Beathard has faced plenty of pass rush pressure in his first two starts, and it’s safe to say that will continue this week when Arizona comes to town. Odds are pretty good we will not see Garoppolo on the field, but don’t tell that to Bruce Arians!