© Rob Schumacher/The Republic
The San Francisco 49ers have officially signed quarterback Josh Rosen to a one-year deal. After a year in Arizona and another in Miami, Rosen has spent this season on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad.
He was signed in a emergency situation after Nick Mullens suffered a season-ending elbow injury which may require Tommy John surgery and practice quarterback Josh Johnson was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. Jimmy Garoppolo had his practice window opened but won’t play this week and seems unlikely to play in Week 17.
Rosen will be the team’s backup against Arizona, the team which drafted him. In his rookie year, two of Rosen’s three wins (three career wins at that) came against the 49ers and their current starting quarterback… C.J. Beathard.
In those two games, Rosen was 33-for-65 for 422 yards with 3 TDs and 1 INT. Beathard was 48-for-82 for 539 yards with 3 TDs and 2 INT. His second loss to Arizona that season saw him benched for Mullens for the remainder of the year.
All three were on hand for the team’s practice on Wednesday. Rosen, who’s worn No. 3 his whole career (Beathard’s number), will wear No. 2.
Josh Rosen back on the practice field in Arizona. He will wear number 2 for the #Niners vs #AZCardinals on Saturday #AZFamily pic.twitter.com/lQv23TIsyK
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) December 23, 2020
The team also re-signed wide receiver Jordan Matthews to the practice squad.
But the other roster move of the day is one which could go under the radar. The 49ers placed wide receiver Trent Taylor, fullback Josh Hokit and tight end Chase Harrell on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Wednesday.
All of sudden, the 49ers are up to eight players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, basically all in the last week.
This came after offensive line coach John Benton tested positive for coronavirus on December 13, the day of the team’s game against Washington. Since then, eight players have been placed on the list, with five of those coming in the last two days.
- December 16: RG Colton McKivitz
- December 17: RB Austin Walter
- December 19: TE Charlie Woerner
- December 22: QB Josh Johnson, WR Kevin White
- December 23: WR Trent Taylor, TE Chase Harrell, FB Josh Hokit
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said that his family arrived in Arizona December 19 and would go through a series of tests. He said he saw them when he returned home from the team’s game in Dallas on December 20.
While he said not all players would be able to bring their families out, all were free to do so. It’s unclear if the rise in cases is related to families arriving, but it is one possible factor as cases around the country continue to rise. Maricopa County in Arizona has had roughly twice as many cases in recent days as Santa Clara County. Maricopa has an average of 3,564 daily cases and 79 per 100,000 people compared to an average of 1,189 daily cases and 60 per 100,000 people in Santa Clara County.