Nick Mullens will make his third start of the season and 11th career start when the San Francisco 49ers take the field against the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. He has looked good at times. He has also performed poorly at times. The most recent example would be the two-interception performance during Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles — a game where he was benched in favor of C.J. Beathard.
Mullens looked good during this past weekend's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, though. He mounted a bit of a comeback before the 49ers ultimately lost by 10. Mullens was 18-of-25 for 238 yards with two touchdowns in just one quarter of play after starter Jimmy Garoppolo left with an ankle injury.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Tuesday, his only day of media availability before Thursday's game, what he wants to see from Mullens against the Packers.
"Just play up to his ability," Shanahan said. "I've seen it from Nick, and I think Nick has had some very good games. I think the first game he ever got in was, from what I remember, statistically or whatever, is one of the best games of all time for a quarterback his first time in, which was a Thursday Night game. And it was his first week of getting any reps, let alone walkthrough reps.
"Earlier this year, I thought Nick did some pretty unbelievable things in the Giants game. Just had a lot of second and longs, third and longs, and we didn't punt all game, which I thought he was one of the main reasons for that."
Mullens finished that game 25-of-36 for 343 yards with a touchdown.
"Everyone knows he struggled to miss some throws versus Philly," Shanahan continued, "but Nick showed us what he could do. I know Nick can go out and do that. You guys saw that throughout the game in Seattle, and it's important that we just build a good game plan around him, all our guys play as well as they can, and just let the game come to Nick."
Rookie wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk will be one of Mullens' weapons on the field against the Packers. The two got to know each other over the offseason during some player-organized workouts and over FaceTime.
"It was fun to work with Nick," Aiyuk said on Tuesday. "He's always ready to help, and he's always prepared. So, it's fun to work with Nick."
With Garoppolo out multiple weeks — possibly for the season — Mullens will be the 49ers' leader for the foreseeable future. He knows that leading the team means more than saying the right things on and off the football field. The quarterback will have to perform well. That begins on Thursday as San Fransico hopes to climb back into the playoff hunt.
"Yeah, I think the biggest thing is you can't be a great leader if you're not making plays," Mullens told reporters on Tuesday. "I know that attributes to Sundays, but that's the biggest thing. And I think you just earn guys respect by the way you play, by the way you handle your business. I think that's how it comes first.
"And then, talking about leadership, I've always, in my mind, it's one thing that my college coach always told me was it's positive influence. Just making guys better, no matter how you do it, how you relate. That's the biggest thing.
"And so, I think we have a great group of guys in the locker room. They're fun to be around, and I'm just going to bring energy, attitude, and just a little bit of grit, and ready to get after it and ready to play."
