San Francisco 49ers quarterback C.J. Beathard believes he's had a good offseason thus far. Tuesday's minicamp practice, which was open to the media, wasn't the best example of a strong offensive performance, but Beathard doesn't see it as a representation of the entire offseason program.
The competition for the backup quarterback job hasn't affected the friendship between Beathard and fellow third-year teammate Nick Mullens.
"Me and Nick are friends, good friends off the field," Beathard told reporters on Tuesday. "I think our whole room is just a really good group of guys in general, and we're all friends off the field. At the end of the day, you're just out there playing football and doing the best that you can do with your reps."
The two quarterbacks try to leave work at the team's facility. They hang out nearly every night in the hotel, says Beathard. Their assigned rooms are just down the hall from each other.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan won't begin the evaluation process for the No. 2 job behind starter Jimmy Garoppolo until training camp kicks off in late-July. Beathard, however, believes the looming competition is helpful, and he is looking forward to it.
"I think any time you have competition, especially from guys that are in the room, good players, it makes you better," Beathard said. "It really does."
This is Beathard's and Mullens' third offseason working within Shanahan's system. Both have starts on their NFL resumes, and both have taken a good number of meaningful in-game snaps. They continue to grow more comfortable with the scheme and the players around them.
"I think that just ramps up what Kyle can throw at us and what we can handle because we've been in the system for three years," Beathard continued.
The 49ers have one more practice scheduled for Wednesday. After that, players will enjoy about six weeks off until training camp begins in late-July.
You can watch the Beathard's entire press conference below, courtesy of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat's Grant Cohn.
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