The 49ers hope Jimmy Garoppolo, with his limited knowledge of the offense, doesn’t have to play Sunday. With only two quarterbacks on their roster, Garoppolo will serve as rookie C.J. Beathard’s backup.
Garoppolo arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday after the trade of a day earlier that delivered the Patriots backup quarterback to the 49ers for a second-round pick. The locker room has greeted him with excitement about the future.
“I think it excites guys,” coach Kyle Shanahan said on 49ers Game Plan, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. “When players see that on Monday and they come in on Wednesday, you can feel a little different buzz. I think we had a great week of practice. I think C.J. had his best week of practice. On Wednesday, we only had two balls hit the ground. We haven’t done that all year, so I think it did give us a little bit of juice and some energy. Jimmy has fit in really well in that quarterback room. He’s fit in real well with the guys, and I think the guys see the talent out there, also. I don’t think anyone’s trying to rush it or knows when it’s going to happen, but people can see we have a few good quarterbacks in our building.”
The 49ers have a bye in Week 11, so it seems logical that Garoppolo would make his first start for San Francisco against Seattle on Nov. 26. But Shanahan has put no timetable on playing Garoppolo, calling the process to get him ready to play “tough” and a “challenge.”
“That’s something I’m going to take day-by-day,” Shanahan said of getting Garoppolo on the field. “It’s not just about Jimmy. It’s about our team, too. I want to make sure I put Jimmy in a position where I believe he has a chance to be successful. That’s a huge challenge for a guy when he’s hopping into the middle of this year. We’re not the healthiest right now. That’s not all that’s going into the decision. I got to wait until Jimmy’s ready. And I [have] to wait until I think when he goes in, [until I think] he has a chance to successful. If that time comes, or when it comes, then we won’t hesitate to do that.”