San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to the media on Monday and was immediately asked about his quarterback situation. The 49ers remain winless following an 18-15 overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. In three of the team's four losses, quarterback Brian Hoyer has been relatively ineffective.
Shanahan was asked if a change at quarterback might make sense for the 49ers, who have lost each of their last three games by three or fewer points.
"I know we're 0-4 and it feels extremely bad when you're 0-4," said Shanahan. "I've been in that situation in the NFL and it doesn't feel good, but you don't want to lose perspective. So, you try to look at each game as it is, and I know we're 0-4 right now, but when you lose a total of three games by eight points, I know we very easily could be 3-1, and you don't want to make drastic changes just for one reason, as there's a lot of things that go into losing games. It's never just one guy and I try to put all that into thought."
Hoyer was 24 of 49 for 234 yards and an interception against Arizona. He has thrown an interception in each of his four starts for the 49ers and averaged just 5.8 yards per attempt. While under pressure from the Cardinals defense, Hoyer completed just three of his 11 pass attempts and was sacked three times, according to Pro Football Focus.
"I think he needs to play better," said Shanahan of Hoyer. "I think we need to play better around him. It's similar to what I said last night. When you have the time and you've got guys open, you need to hit them and I thought he struggled with that at times last night, which I know he can do better, and he does also, but I also know when he did make some key throws, guys weren't great at catching them for him, either."
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Four of Hoyer's passes were dropped against the Cardinals, which increased the season total to 12 by 49ers targets. That number is the most for any NFL quarterback this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
Hoyer's struggles have forced frustrated fans to begin calling for rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard to receive playing time. However, Shanahan insists such a move would not be in the best interests of the 49ers right now.
"I don't look at it just as it's Brian versus C.J. right now," said Shanahan. "I look at it as what's the best for our team right now. And if I did feel that was the best thing for our team at this time, I wouldn't hesitate at all. That would be an easy decision for me if I thought it was the best thing for our team right now.
"So, I look into the big picture of where we're at right now, four games into it, where our offense is, where our defense is, and really just our whole building. And I don't feel it is the best thing for our team right now, so that's something that I haven't started to consider."
While Beathard gets most of his practice reps with the 49ers' scout team, Shanahan does give him some time with the starters as well.
"You've got to take advantage of the reps you get on scout team, and then we do mix him in with our starters, also, whenever he's spelling Brian," said Shanahan. "So, it's kind of the same story for everyone across the league. You've got to take advantage of those scout team reps, and the few you do get with your offense, you've got to be ready, and that's why you stay out after with the quarterback coach. You go through stuff."