Second-year quarterback Nick Mullens was 16-of-22 for 262 yards with three touchdowns during his impressive NFL debut — a 34-3 victory over the visiting Oakland Raiders. He started because C.J. Beathard has been dealing with right wrist and thumb injuries all week.
Mullens led the 49ers to their second win of the season, which has fans wondering if Beathard has been unseated as the starting quarterback for the second year in a row.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan wouldn't commit to Mullens going forward but also didn't say a second consecutive start was out of the question for the young quarterback.
"Yeah, we'll definitely consider it," Shanahan told reporters after the game. "Definitely not thinking about that right now but our whole team played very well. Nick definitely did. I thought our guys up front played well. I thought the entire offense did. I thought the defense played their tail off. I thought the pass rush was there. I thought we tackled well. I thought our punter and kicker did well. It was a very good all-around win.
"I was real happy for our guys. We've been through a lot here, and we're not done. We're trying to get our way out of this. It's good to get a win today, and hopefully, it can lead to some others."
A reporter asked Shanahan why he didn't make the switch from Beathard to Mullens sooner, considering the latter's struggles.
"Because I don't put all those struggles on just C.J.," Shanahan answered. "I think people make a huge mistake saying, 'If you win, it's the quarterback. If you lose, it's the quarterback.' There's 11 guys on offense. There's 53 guys on our team. I thought our team had probably our best game of the year, so far.
"It's nothing against C.J. I think C.J. would have played well tonight too if he played."