Kyle Shanahan discusses quarterback play against Cardinals

How is QB C.J. Beathard doing and why did he get hit so many times today?

"They brought a lot of pressures. We had to throw away too much, and a lot of times it had to do with the pressures. A lot of times it had to do with a couple missed blocks and sometimes there wasn't anybody open downfield."

Is there any thought of putting QB Jimmy Garoppolo in there or was that not going to happen today?

"No, that wasn't going to happen today and even if that was a possibility, he wasn't getting hit because of C.J. I was pretty impressed with how … that he made it through it."

How much, if at all, has your play calling changed just for the fact that you're trying not to get C.J. killed over the course of the game?

"It changes a lot. I mean, it changes throughout the game, especially when you lose a fullback, two tight ends, your 11-personnel slot receiver. It was kind of every quarter having to adjust to certain things just personnel wise, what you can do. It changes everything up when you lose those different key spots."

You talked before about C.J.'s toughness. Did it show you a new dimension today?

"He's shown it to me every time he's played. He showed it in college a lot. It was one of the things that I liked about him the most. He showed a ton of it last week, and it didn't get any easier this week. There was some that he missed, especially that one at the end bouncing off of [LT] Trent's [Brown] helmet. But, I thought C.J. did a lot of good things today, too. I think it could have looked a lot better for him if we caught a lot of those balls also."

Did you see the hits affecting him at all? Does he seem timid at any point or anything like that?

"That's what's so impressive to me about him. I think those hits affect almost everybody. I haven't seen them affect him."

Obviously, you'll know more after seeing the tape, how'd you think OL Trent Brown looked at left tackle from your vantage point?

"I don't sit and watch a tackle too much. I know we had a lot of pressure on us. I know for sure he missed one early in the game on a pressure, but I'll have to see on the film. It didn't look like offensively any of us did very well."

This was the first time LB Reuben Foster played a full game. What did you see from him?

"When I looked up, I saw him make some plays. I was pretty involved with some of the situations we had on offense today, so I wasn't locked into every situation on defense. I saw him make some plays and I thought our defense gave us a chance to win that game. I was glad Reuben was able to make it through. I know he went down at one time in the game. Just some lingering effects of his high ankle sprain, which will probably continue to bother him throughout the year. But, I was glad to see him come back and finish it."

You said the defense gave you a chance to win. What'd you see from them in particular? They stripped RB Adrian Peterson at the end of the game to get the ball back for the offense. What'd you see from the defense?

"Yeah, the two turnovers they got were good and when you're not doing much offensively to still be in it in the fourth quarter means they were giving you a chance. I know they ended up getting some runs going, increasing it, but I thought we made them work pretty hard to get downfield. I thought they kept us in the game a while and we just weren't able to answer."

The offense has struggled for the third game in a row. Why hasn't the offense been able to make some strides the last few weeks?

"I think we've been changing up our people the last few weeks, too. We've got a lot of different guys going in there. Happened throughout this game. We'll see how that ends up being next week. We've had some challenges on us, and I know a lot of teams are banged up this year. Obviously, we are. I thought we had a few opportunities in that game to move the ball and get some points. When we did, ended up getting a sack the next one. After the big one to [WR] Marquise [Goodwin], I think it was about a 55-yard gain. We ended up getting a holding call the next one. I believe followed by a sack, which led us to a field goal. I was happy with how we responded in the third quarter, coming out, getting a touchdown. Then when I thought the defense had a few key stops, one in particular, I thought we were going to get some momentum going our way. Started out the drive with a couple drops too, which held us back. We've been struggling on third down most of the year, so it's been hard to overcome some of these situations."

How significant are the injuries to S Jaquiski Tartt and FB Kyle Juszczyk?

"Pretty significant. Tartt I think broke his arm, so I think it's going to be similar to what happened to [DB] Jimmie [Ward]. I'd be surprised if he doesn't go on IR. I know Juice was a neck issue, so you never know exactly with that. I think that happened -- I think it was the second quarter. Maybe early third. But, we'll have to MRI him and find out more tomorrow."

When you have a situation like you did with the fight breaking out there. How do you want your players to handle that between protecting their quarterback and maybe not going over the line to maybe ejections?

"There's a very fine line. I want our guys to be smart. I know [RB] Carlos [Hyde] is the one who ended up getting ejected. I didn't see Carlos throw a punch. I don't know exactly what he did. I did see him get punches get thrown at him. I did see him get knocked over a couple times. I really loved how he went and got our quarterback's back. I thought our quarterback had a couple helmets to the head when he was in the pocket a few plays before and then he ended up scrambling and sliding and he got one again. I think our players had had enough."

The injuries, the rash of injuries here, does that make you more cautious when you look at how you want to incorporate Garoppolo in the offense?

"Yes, of course. You've got a bunch of guys out there and you're trying to get through it. To just throw out a quarterback who has had three practices with extremely limited reps, who doesn't know your offense, that's kind of an unfair position to put him in."

Has this maybe prolonged, with all the injuries today, has that prolonged, maybe even give him a longer look?

"I'm looking week-to-week right now. It definitely doesn't make it easier. We'll see how these injuries pan out tomorrow. Hopefully, we'll know more tomorrow. We'll give the players Tuesday off. We'll get to practice Wednesday. We'll see how practice Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday goes. Hopefully, we can get healthier. I know we have a bye week the next week, so hopefully, that will add some too. But, we've got two quarterbacks on our roster. I'd love to give both of them the chance to play this year. I'd love to get Jimmy in eventually, but it's a lot that's going to factor into that. Hopefully, we can get healthy, and hopefully we give Jimmy a chance to pick this stuff up as he goes."

In the two-minute drill, C.J. seemed to get rid of the ball faster; it seemed to be a little safer for him. Did you talk to him about getting rid of the ball faster?

"No, it depends what coverages they're playing. What the looks are. He had a couple quick game looks, where you get rid of it fast, and they're open fast. We had a few quick game looks in the first half, where he tried to get rid of it as fast as possible and got hit before that. Just really how the plays pan out and the coverages they're playing. Sometimes they soften up a little bit in two minute, but I think that was just how it worked out."

With all these injuries, do you think you're getting enough of a view of your roster or are you going to live with what you have right now?

"We definitely did for a while and now it's a lot of guys are getting opportunities to play that you're hoping to have more time to develop them. It's a huge opportunity for some of the guys. Some of the receivers you've seen out. Some of the tight ends the last couple of weeks, O-Linemen. There's been guys getting opportunities. When we lost those five close ones, you look at the team, and you can see alright these guys are getting a lot better and we're going to get there. A lot of those guys you've missed. So, you've had some guys come up who've gotten opportunities to play, and I do think it helps you, whether they're going to be starters next year or whether they're going to be rotational players. The main thing is that we've got to add to our team, the people that are out there starting and to the depth off of it. Everyone goes through an NFL season; everyone has injuries. We need to build this the right way, so when you do have injuries that you have people who can step up and play. That's what we're going through right now. Hopefully, these guys who are playing now and getting some opportunities that they maybe wouldn't have had if we'd stayed healthy. Hopefully, that will make them better and give us some more depth going into next year."

Adrian Colbert went in for Tartt when he went out. How did he do?

"From what I've seen, Adrian has done a good job. I know one play, in particular, I saw today, the quarterback tried to look him off pretty good. They threw a go route towards our sidelines, and Adrian showed some very good range on it and went over there and broke it up. I've seen him play physical. I know he's done a good job on special teams. The opportunities that he has had when he's gone in on defense, he's done well. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It's sounding like with Tartt's broken arm; it sounds like he's going to have some more opportunities going forward too. So, hopefully, he continues to get better."

* Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers