© Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
SANTA CLARA — Kyle Shanahan isn’t sugarcoating things. Losing Jimmy Garoppolo to a season-ending knee injury is one of the worst possible scenarios for the 49ers three weeks into the season. To make matters worse, their 38-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday was frustrating on multiple fronts, from San Francisco’s mental mistakes, to its putrid start, to referees making questionable calls that did not help.
Shanahan also isn’t feeling sorry for his team. Just because Garoppolo’s 2018 season is already done does not mean San Francisco’s goals for this season and beyond are completely thrown out the window.
As he leads a young squad, Shanahan is being frank but optimistic, while, most importantly, understanding the current regime is not a one-year plan. Garoppolo’s injury underscores that.
“You can always make things a positive,” Shanahan said Monday. “It will help (Garoppolo) to sit and watch more, especially to sit there and watch C.J. (Beathard) go through this, and when we get into the offseason, we will get an early start with him going through his rehab and everything. I think that will make him much more hungry next year. There’s not a doubt in my mind he will come back and be the exact same guy.”
“I am still very excited about Jimmy and the future of him here,” Shanahan said. “And I feel fortunate that we have a backup quarterback we have a lot of confidence in.”
Beathard, Garoppolo’s backup, is now in the middle of another calamitous situation.
Last year, quarterback Beathard inherited the starting job on an 0-6 team. Shanahan admits Beathard was thrown into one of the most challenging situations imaginable for a rookie. His attitude never wavered, even when his production did.
In seven games, Beathard threw for 1,430 yards, four touchdowns, and six interceptions on 54.9 percent passing. He started strong, then struggled, then finished on a positive note before Garoppolo took over. Beathard’s biggest accomplishment was leading the 49ers to a Week-10 victory, their first of the season, over the New York Giants. It was his only win of the season out of five starts. Garoppolo took over in Week 13 and didn’t lose for five consecutive weeks to close the 2017 campaign.
The first glimpse of Beathard in regular season action this year was positive. On Sunday, Beathard’s first throw after replacing Garoppolo was a perfectly-placed touchdown to tight end George Kittle. The score was wiped away, however, because fullback Kyle Juszyzck was flagged for a questionable offensive pass interference call. The 49ers later settled for a field goal.
After Sunday’s loss, several players, from Joe Staley to Reuben Foster, expressed their confidence in Beathard. Shanahan echoed those praises Monday.
“C.J. is as tough and fearless as any quarterback I have ever been around,” Shanahan said. “He’s got the arm talent to make every throw, he’s extremely smart, and I know he’s the type of guy our team believes in, also.”
It’s reasonable to expect Beathard to improve at least marginally in his second year, considering he knows the playbook better this time around. Shanahan said he doesn’t plan to change much of the playbook with Beathard under center.
“I know guys do believe in C.J.,” Shanahan said. “I don’t have to convince them. If I had to convince them, you’d probably see a bad actor because I’m not very good at acting.”
With all of Shanahan’s apparent praise for Beathard, there is no denying the disastrous circumstances the 49ers have endured already. Less than a week before the season, starting running back Jerick McKinnon tore his ACL. Now, it’s Garoppolo.
“It’s very unfortunate— I am not going to sugarcoat it,” Shanahan said. “It was hard waking up today.”
There is one silver lining Shanahan points to: Garoppolo and McKinnon will go through the rehab process together. After Sunday’s loss, McKinnon texted a picture of his knee to Garoppolo for encouragement, then said the 49ers quarterback will be his “wingman.”
There are still 13 games to be played in 2018, but the countdown for 2019 is already on. Shanahan looks forward to Garoppolo emerging as the same guy.
“Quarterbacks come back from knee injuries,” Shanahan said. “They do it all the time. I don’t think this will affect him moving forward. He will have a long recovery, have to heal, but when the offseason starts, he will be there.”
