First NFL touchdown….first 1-on-1 with @MaioccoNBCS for @cjbeathard pic.twitter.com/VJ8WEi7Xm0
— NBCS 49ers News (@NBCS49ers) October 15, 2017
C.J. Beathard had every reason to smile after Sunday’s 26-24 loss to the Washington Redskins.
Sure, the 49ers suffered another close defeat, but in the midst of their loss, Beathard entered the game for his first extensive NFL action and played well enough to be named San Francisco’s starting quarterback.
But Beathard wasn’t soaking in the spotlight. He was mad. After all, his team fell to 0-6.
“It stinks cause we lost,” Beathard said. “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.”
Beathard took over for 49ers’ starter Brian Hoyer in the first half after Hoyer completed just four of his first 11 attempts. Hoyer said after the game he understood head coach Kyle Shanahan’s decision to bench him, and that in the coming weeks, he would do everything he could to help Beathard get prepared.
Preparation, though, doesn’t appear to be a weakness of Beathard’s. After Sunday’s loss, he told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco that as a backup, he felt he needed to be ready because he knew his timing was coming. Now that his time is here, don’t expect Beathard’s preparation process to change.
“I think it’s just your job as a backup quarterback,” Beathard said. “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.”
Though Beathard completed 19-of-36 passes for 245 yards and one touchdown on Sunday, he knows there’s plenty to improve upon. At 0-6 the San Francisco 49ers have nowhere to go but up. Suddenly, climbing doesn’t seem so hard.
“I just got to get better each and every week,” Beathard said. “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.”
