The 49ers aren’t going to give Jimmy Garoppolo his first start against the Giants this week.
Coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday that the team will have the same plan in place at quarterback this week as they had for last Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals. C.J. Beathard will start with Garoppolo serving as the backup who will only play if Beathard gets hurt.
That seems like a real possibility as Beathard has been hit 37 times in the last three games and the 49ers will be playing without their starting tackles again this week. Given that situation, Shanahan was asked if the team would consider adding another quarterback or promoting Nick Mullens from the practice squad. The coach said the long list of injuries would make that difficult if it were something they were interested in doing in the first place.
“No, we feel Jimmy is about where they would be, especially with them not being with us the last few months,” Shanahan said at his press conference. “Also, you’d have to cut other players to do that. And we don’t have that leeway right now just to cut a lot of other guys. Everybody’s playing a role on our team right now with the injuries we have now. If you can’t IR guys, you don’t lose that spot. So, we really don’t have the room for that right now.”
The 49ers have a bye after facing the Giants and will be back in action against the Seahawks on November 26. Assuming Beathard makes it through Sunday, that could be the point where Garoppolo makes his first game appearance.