© Kyle Terada | 2020 Oct 4
Jimmy Garoppolo was cleared to return to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday, and after Sunday’s debacle that will make 49ers fans smile.
Though it was a team-wide failure, the most visible mistakes in San Francisco’s 25-20 loss to the Eagles involved Nick Mullens. Mullens — who missed a possible touchdown on his second throw of the game and threw one of the worst interceptions you’ll ever see in a key moment — was eventually pulled for C.J. Beathard, the man whose job he took two years prior.
Beathard looked good going 14-of-19, enough to create a rare backup QB controversy should Jimmy G not be able to take the field this Sunday vs. the Dolphins.
Former 49ers quarterback Steve Young joined Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks on Wednesday and said that he’d give Mullens another shot.
“I would go back with Nick, because you think that Nick is a player that could be around for awhile, I’d tell Nick, ‘you’ve got a short leash here buddy, you’ve got to make it happen,’” Young said on KNBR. “Quarterbacks need opportunities, and if this is the last opportunity that he sees and C.J. takes over, it’s a fundamental decision that Kyle has to make. If he’s going to play C.J. and start him, the odds are you don’t go back to Nick.
“I hate to see the situation kind of end this way. C.J. clearly came off the bench and did a nice job, and he proved that he could do that.
“Just from what I see I would go back to Nick, see what you have and kind of get back on top of things. Get back some momentum, and the team will respond to that too because they love Nick. And if he can’t, then C.J. it’s your job, and that’s the way this is going to go down.”
Listen to the full interview below.