While it's looking very likely that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens gets his 10th career start on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, the team isn't writing off the possibility that Jimmy Garoppolo plays just yet.
General manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Friday morning and was asked if Mullens would start for the second consecutive week.
"We'll see," Lynch responded on the Murph & Mac show. "Kyle (Shanahan) has said all along that in order to play, Jimmy's got to at least practice by Friday, and he's been working very diligently towards that. Nick has practiced the first two days.
"So we're going to make a decision here based on how he responded to his work early this week if Jimmy's going today. So a lot will be told by our practice today. It's not a huge practice on Fridays. You start to lighten the load. But that's critical if he's going to play.
"I don't have that answer yet. We'll see here in a couple of hours."
Added Lynch: "Jimmy still has a chance. I think he'll have to go out there, not only practice but show that he can move around, he can protect himself, he can play at a high level, because we do have a ton of confidence in Nick's ability to go get the job done. But Kyle was very clear in stating earlier this week (that) when healthy, this is Jimmy's team."
That means keep an eye on reports out of today's practice, which is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. PT. If Garoppolo can't get out onto the practice field, he probably will be ruled out this afternoon for Sunday's game.
Lynch added that tight end George Kittle (knee) has been "looking great" this week, and the 49ers are "excited to get him back" on the football field. The team will also continue to be cautious with running back Raheem Mostert (knee).
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
