LANDOVER, MD—With QB Brian Hoyer on the field for the part of San Francisco’s match against the Washington Redskins, the Niners fell 17-0. Head Coach Kyle Shanahan swore in former University of Iowa QB C.J. Beathard with 6:39 left in the second period. Beathard helped the team collect 24 points in three periods for a final score of 26-24.
It was a loss, indeed, but the significantly greater number of points scored during Beathard’s presence on the field than Hoyer’s (who completed only four of 11 passes for 34 yards) led Shanahan to make a permanent roster change. As of Sunday, October 15, Beathard is now the starting quarterback for the San Francisco’s 49ers.
Beathard finished Sunday’s contest having completed 19 passes of 36 for 245 yards along with one touchdown and one interception. This match was, time wise, his first substantive appearance in the NFL.
“I thought he came in and competed. By no means were things perfect, but the game isn’t too big for the guy. He comes in and doesn’t hesitate. He’s extremely tough. He came in there and gave us a little spark. He made a few off-schedule plays which was nice. We will watch the film. It wasn’t perfect, but when you’ve got a tough guy who hangs in there and competes, I think he’ll learn from it,” Shanahan said of the rookie, who was a third-round draft pick (104th overall) for the Niners this year.
“C.J. had a good week of practice. He’s put two good weeks together. Going in, I knew if it went like that then I’d have to make the move to give us a chance to win,” Shanahan continued.
Beathard spoke with KNBR about Sunday’s game and his new place on the roster.
“It stinks cause we lost. It would have felt a lot different if we won the game, but we didn’t. All you can do is look forward and try to get better.
“I think it’s just your job as a backup quarterback. You’ve always got to be ready, be prepared, because you never know when you’re going to be called on, when your time is going to come. So I try to stay in it and study at night because you’re limited with reps as a backup so you’ve got to be on it mentally.
“I just got to get better each and every week. There’s so much stuff to improve on and I’ll look at the film and get better and just do everything I can to get better each and every day so hopefully we can get a win this week.
Beathard is scheduled to start in the 49ers’ home match against the Dallas Cowboys during Week 7. The 49ers are currently 0-6.
