San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard is dealing with right wrist and thumb injuries. Had this been a typical week, it wouldn't be as significant an issue. But it's not a typical week. The 49ers have just three full days between their game on Sunday and their Thursday night matchup against the Oakland Raiders. That's half as much time as the team would have for a Sunday game.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan joined KNBR on Wednesday morning and discussed his quarterbacks.
"C.J.'s going to try to play regardless," Shanahan said on the "Murph & Mac" show. "I just know C.J., and he'll find a way to say he's good to go."
Beathard would not have participated had the 49ers practiced on Monday. He did not take part in the team's walk-through on Tuesday. Beathard has been having trouble just holding the football this week. The team will re-evaluate him on Wednesday to see if he can participate in the final walk-through before Thursday's game, but the quarterback's status is likely to be a game-time decision.
"It's going to come down to the wire," Shanahan said of Beathard's status. "If it's not C.J., it's going to be Nick Mullens. If we had to play today, C.J. would not be able to go. The X-rays are alright, so we're trying to let that swelling go down so he can grip the ball and have a chance to throw it normal.
"Each hour is going to help a little bit more, so we really won't know until tomorrow. Nick's getting all the reps in practice. They're all walk-through reps. You can't do anything full-speed this week. The guys are still trying to recover from the game from three days ago.
"Thursday nights are always a little bit different. Our quarterback is going through what a number of our players are going through. I'd feel very confident he'd be able to play if we were playing Saturday or Sunday, but Thursday is cutting it a little close. We'll have to take it up to kickoff, and hopefully, he'll be able to go. But if not, Nick will step up and be ready."
Shanahan has a lot of confidence in Mullens. While he doesn't have the practice or in-game reps that a quarterback like Beathard or Jimmy Garoppolo has, he's been with the team for two offseasons and is comfortable with the playbook.
Shanahan won't have to scale back the offense as he had to do with Garoppolo last season or might have to do if emergency quarterback Tom Savage entered a game. The only change that would need to be made is adapting to play to Mullens' strengths.
"Just from a mental standpoint of knowing what to do, we won't skip a beat in that way," Shanahan said.
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.