San Francisco 49ers head coach has 11 days to decide who his starting quarterback will be when the team takes the field on Monday, November 12 against the New York Giants.
Nick Mullens made his NFL debut on Thursday night against the Oakland Raiders and was impressive during the 34-3 victory. He completed 16-of-22 pass attempts for 262 yards with three touchdowns and a passer rating of 151.9, becoming the first player to throw for two-or-more touchdowns in his 49ers debut.
Mullens played because fellow second-year quarterback C.J. Beathard was dealing with right wrist and thumb injuries during the abbreviated week of preperation.
"The players got four days off," Shanahan said on Friday. "I don't need to decide, yet, so I'm taking my time with it. And also, I wouldn't want to do that with all of the guys out of the building. I'd like the whole team in here, too, when I decide that."
Shanahan was asked what will go into the decision on a starting quarterback for Week 10.
"Just who we think gives us the best chance to win versus the Giants," he responded.
Mullens entered Thursday night's game and engineered a six-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 24-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Pierre Garçon on the team's opening drive.
The 49ers signed Mullens as an undrafted free agent out of Southern Miss last year. He spent his entire rookie season on the practice squad and was promoted to the active roster on September 26 following the season-ending injury to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
While Shanahan has an opportunity to evaluate the quarterback situation on the team and decide who would be the best backup to Garoppolo next season, the head coach is focused on right now.
"We're going to take these few days off," Shanahan said. "When we come back in, it's going to be all thinking about the Giants, not really thinking who gives us our best chance to have our best backup next year. It will be about the Giants and that will be the decision as we go through the year.
"When we get to the end of the year, those are things I'll think about very hard."
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