San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has not committed to Nick Mullens as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season. Mullens will, however, start on Monday night against the New York Giants. Beyond that, nothing is guaranteed.
Mullens was impressive in his NFL debut last Thursday night. When he takes the field against the Giants, it will be the first time a quarterback has made his first two career starts in primetime games since former Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko did it in 2011. For Mullens, it is another opportunity to prove to a national audience that he can play in the NFL.
Shanahan told reporters on Thursday that the quarterback situation will be a week-to-week decision. Another win on Mullens' resume will go a long way to ensuring he continues to play.
Mullens will have the benefit of a longer week of preparation for his second start. Against the Raiders, Mullens had just three full days to prepare, and none of the practices leading to the game were full sessions. They were all walkthroughs.
"I think it's just good for him to go through everything," Shanahan said. "There was some pluses and minuses to it. Sometimes it's a short week, and you don't have time to think about anything. It was nice coming off a tough loss to have that short week, too.
"Now he gets to sit there. He doesn't have to cram everything in a day and a half. He's got the whole week to kind of let it saturate, learn the play calls, spit them out easier, gets to throw some full-speed balls to all our players where last week there wasn't one full-speed rep.
"I think it helps prepare him more and makes him more comfortable going into the game."