Even after 10 weeks worth of regular-season games, San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch is still learning on the job. While rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard, who started the 49ers' last four games and played in the last five, heads to Iowa to watch his alma mater play Purdue this weekend, newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo stayed in Santa Clara to continue his crash course to learn the offense.
There was just one problem. Garoppolo can't be there. League rules under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement prohibit players from being around Thursday through Sunday during the bye week. Garoppolo has to take some time off.
While on KNBR, Lynch was asked when fans might expect to see Garoppolo on the field.
"[Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] really is in control of that," Lynch said on the "Tolbert & Lund" show. "I do know that they worked extremely hard this bye week. Jimmy really didn't have a bye week ... He was right there at 4949 [Marie P DeBartolo Way] along with our quarterback coach [Rich Scangarello] and Kyle, in fact, has been with him.
"I think he finally, by league rules – I didn't even know this – I've got to learn these league rules – but the CBA now, you have to have from Thursday on off. Jimmy is no longer there. But he's had a really good week catching up.
"You can see it with Kyle's system. It asks a lot of the quarterbacks. They do a lot at the line of scrimmage. Yes, he is a guy who's been in the league for some time, and we like that, but he's new to this system. And it's a different system, so there's a lot of learning."
As Lynch told NBC Bay Area this week, there is no sense of urgency to get Garoppolo on the field. The team is comfortable with Beathard as its starter. The rookie quarterback is coming off of the best game of his young career. Against the New York Giants on Sunday, Beathard completed 19 of his 25 pass attempts (76-percent completion percentage) for 288 yards, two passing touchdowns, a rushing touchdown, an interception, and a passer rating of 123.4.
"C.J. played so well the other day," Lynch said. "C.J.'s really hot right now, and I think that provides us the opportunity to continue to work with Jimmy, get him up to speed. When we feel comfortable, I'm sure Kyle will make that move. I anticipate that at some point this season, we'll see Jimmy Garoppolo. I don't know when that is."
You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch below.