Beathard picked to start vs. the Cardinals
Garoppolo will practice; Mullens faces surgery
Major news hit the 49ers’ quarterback unit Tuesday, two days after the defending NFC champions were eliminated from playoff contention.
• Nick Mullens, who went 2- 6 as a fill-in starter this season, is facing Tommy John surgery to repair an elbow injury he sustained in Sunday’s loss at Dallas.
• Jimmy Garoppolo is cleared to resume practicing but coach Kyle Shanahan does not plan to play him the remaining two games.
• C. J. Beathard will start Saturday against the host Arizona Cardinals, two years after his last start came against them at State Farm Stadium.
• Josh Johnson, a veteran safeguard on the practice squad, went on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list.
• Beathard’s backup Saturday is expected to be Josh Rosen, who the 49ers are signing off Tampa Bay’s practice squad, ESPN first reported.
• Running back Jerick McKinnon and fullback Kyle Juszczyk are options as emergency quarterbacks.
GAROPPOLO STATUS » Garoppolo has been sidelined since Nov. 1, when a high ankle sprain forced
him out of the 49ers’ loss at Seattle. Taking part in Tuesday’s walk-through practice does not mean he’ll play again this season.
“That’s only if the doctors tell me if it’s 100 percent safe and he feels good, and I’d be very surprised if that happens,” Shanahan said. “It’ll be fun for him to throw the ball around a little bit.
“But we’re going to be very safe with him this week and we’ll see next week. I’d be very surprised if that changes.”
Garoppolo’s same right ankle was injured in the 49ers’ Week 2 win over the New York Jets, and it kept Garoppolo out the next two games, plus it forced him to sit at halftime of a Week 5 return against the Miami Dolphins. He’s officially 3- 3 as a starter this season with 1,096 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
Signed through the next two years at $24 million annually, Garoppolo remains the 49ers’ top option in 2021, pending a change of heart and the addition of a more heralded veteran. MULLENS’ ELBOW » Mullens’
career could be in peril with the prospect of elbow surgery. Shanahan confirmed that the Tommy John elbow ligament reconstruction is being considered, which usually is for ulnar collateral ligament tears.
The 49ers will wait until swelling subsides before “most likely” going through with reconstructive surgery that could keep him out a year. Mullens is a restricted free agent.
Mullens went 2- 6 as a starter in place of Garoppolo this season. He’s committed 16 turnovers this season, including five in the past two losses that knocked the 49ers out of
the playoff race.
Mullens injured his elbow and lost sensation in it during the waning minutes of Sunday’s 4133 loss. DeMarcus Lawrence peeled off Mike McGlinchey’s block and struck Mullens’ arm and helmet, while the quarterback managed to complete an 8- yard pass to River Cracraft on third- and-10 with 1:41 remaining.
“I was throwing the football, they hit my hand, and I jammed my elbow a little bit,” Mullens said afterward. “So I figured it was best for the team for somebody who could throw the football to get in the game.”
BEATHARD’S RETURN » Once Beathard replaced Mullen on Sunday, he engineered a field-goal drive and then finished the game with a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Kendrick Bourne.
Beathard’s return to the starting role comes a year after his youngest brother, Clayton, was fatally stabbed in a fight outside a Nashville, Tennessee, bar on the early morning of Dec. 21, 2019.
“It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since our world was rocked,” C. J. Beathard said in an Instagram post Monday. “Losing a brother and a best friend is not easy, nor will it ever
be, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about Clay and his laugh. It’s a daily battle even a year later.”
“I know that’s heavy on his heart and will be the rest of his life,” Shanahan said. “I know he’s very religious and is close with God and close with his family and is dealing with it that way.
“I know it’s been a huge challenge for him. I’m excited he’ll get an opportunity this week,” added Shanahan, noting that Mullens had outperformed Beathard on the field in games, in training camp and in practice but not by a sizable margin.