C.J. Beathard came in late during the San Francisco 49ers' loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, replacing an ineffective Nick Mullens. Mullens has served as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup over the past two seasons.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan would not commit to Mullens' status on the depth chart going forward.
"That's something we're going to work through this week," Shanahan told reporters on Monday. "I'm still not sure about Jimmy. I just finished (meeting) with the players about 30 minutes ago, so I don't really know what we'll do on Wednesday."
Wednesday will be the 49ers' first practice of the week as the team prepares to host the Miami Dolphins this weekend and climb out of the NFC West cellar. It's unknown whether it will be Mullens or Beathard leading the offense for that matchup.
"I'll have a plan by then, but I haven't talked it over with the coaches yet, so I'm not sure," Shanahan added.
Beathard played well after Mullens' benching. He helped mount a comeback that fell just short of a miraculous win. It was Beathard's first regular-season action since October 28, 2018, and he finished the game 14-of-19 for 138 yards, looking comfortable and in command of the offense while doing so.
"Honestly, I just give credit to me being in my fourth year in the system," Beathard said after the game. "It's night and day compared to the last time I was in there playing in the regular season. It just feels comfortable. The more you go through the plays, the more you're in the offense, it just gets a lot more comfortable."
Garoppolo has missed the past two games after suffering a high-ankle sprain against the New York Jets during Week 2. He was playing phenomenal football during that game before the injury. Garoppolo was 14-of-16 for 131 yards, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 140.4 in a half of play.
Even if Garoppolo returns this weekend, the 49ers typically only have two quarterbacks active on game days. Will it be Mullens or Beathard moving forward? Mullens looked like a bonafide starter a week before flopping in prime-time.
