49ers-Seahawks: C.J. Beathard hit 14 times, which is bad news for Jimmy Garoppolo

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan maintains that he will not be taking Jimmy Garoppolo’s touchdown drive at the end of Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks into account when making a decision on his starting quarterback for Week 13.

He also confirmed that C.J. Beathard has a lower leg injury that they are hoping is not serious. Beathard will get an X-ray to determine the extent of the injury. And everyone is waiting to see if he will be able to play in Week 13 and if so, if he is still the starter.

Beathard is a warrior, a player who can take an otherworldly beating and keep going. It sure would be nice if he didn’t have to take that kind of beating, but that’s the reality of the current 49ers. On Sunday, Beathard was sacked three times for a loss of 23 yards and was hit, by my count, a total of 14 times.

Keep in mind, a hit is just as damaging as a sack in regards to damage absorbed. Not all hits are created equal, but generally speaking, when a quarterback is hit, it’s because another grown ass football player ran into him as fast as they can. No amount of padding can save a player from the kind of hurt that comes from that, especially when it happens 14 times.

Trent Brown, the best offensive lineman on the team, missed Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. That led to Erik Magnuson starting at right tackle. Joe Staley, the starting left tackle, was injured on Sunday and was replaced by Darrell Williams. Two undrafted rookies manning perhaps the most important positions on the football team.

Well before Sunday’s game, we discussed the sorry state of the 49ers’ offensive line and what it would mean for the 49ers if they played Garoppolo. They would be exposing him to the potential of a beatdown at the hands of opposing defenses, and that remains the case today, even more so. Beathard took on a ton of punishment and finally had to leave a game.

What would happen to Garoppolo under those same circumstances? I certainly don’t want to find out. But there is a balance here — is the 49ers’ offensive line going to improve drastically before the end of the season, or even this offseason? Probably not, but getting Brown back would be a huge step toward making me comfortable having Garoppolo under center.