As the 49ers won their first game of the season with a 31-21 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday, C.J. Beathard’s impressive start may have won him the starting quarterback role for the time being. When asked on Murph & Mac Monday morning if he believes Beathard deserves to start as quarterback until his next loss, NFL insider Ian Rapopport said, “probably.”
“I have a hard time imagining there will be a quarterback change now because you want to reward a guy for what he did and just like all of his teammates, C.J. Beathard has worked really hard to get here this year and actually win a game,” Rapopport said. “He deserves to go out there and play.”
Beathard came out firing against a scrambling Giants team, setting career highs in completion percentage (76%), and touchdowns (2). He finished the game with 19 completions, 288 yards, and threw only one interception. All the while, Jimmy Garoppolo watched from the sidelines as Beathard’s success threw his impending 49er debut further into uncertainty, after it was assumed he would get the start after the 49ers’ bye week.
“Not saying that was the 49ers plan, but in my head that’s what I kind of assumed it would be,” Rapopport said. “You’d get the extra bye week to learn, to get him ready, and he’s ready to play, but now it’s like how do you not reward C.J. Beathard for what he did out there for his team?”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 1:56 for Rapopport on Beathard.