The San Francisco 49ers face a game-time decision at the quarterback position. C.J. Beathard suffered a wrist injury in the second quarter of the 49ers Week 8 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He finished out the game, but is currently struggling to hold a football, so he is sitting out the team’s Tuesday walkthrough. Kyle Shanahan said Beathard is likely a game day decision.
Beathard met with the media after Shanahan and said he is hopeful he can play on Thursday. He said he “kinda messed up” his thumb and wrist, but neither is broken.
If Beathard cannot play on Thursday, backup Nick Mullens would get the start and Tom Savage would serve as his backup. Mullens has been active but not played each of the past five weeks since Jimmy Garoppolo went down with his torn ACL. He spent all last season on the practice squad, which gives him a little over a year and a half learning Kyle Shanahan’s system.
Shanahan said that if Savage ever had to enter the game in place of Mullens, the playbook would be pared down significantly. The 49ers first signed Savage on October 16th. He was released that same week, but then brought back when Adrian Colbert went on injured reserve. So basically, he has two weeks of playbook study under his belt.
All that being said, I expect Beathard to play on Thursday. We’ll find out for sure with the wrist injury, but it would be slightly surprising to me if he did not play. That’s not to say I don’t want to see Mullens out there. Given the state of the season, the masochist in me wants to see it.