Jimmy Garoppolo didn't get his first start for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, but he got the finish.
Replacing an injured C.J. Beathard in the final 67 seconds of a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Garoppolo rushed for six yards on his first-ever play as a Niner. After a false start penalty, the quarterback threw a 9-yard pass for a first down on the next play. Garoppolo then hit Louis Murphy for a 10-yard touchdown on the game's final play.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan said after the game that Beathard suffered a lower leg bruise, but wouldn't rush to name a starter for next week's game against the Chicago Bears.
"It's a tough position to be in. You don't anyone to get hurt," Shanahan said. "Jimmy will have another week. We'll watch this tape tomorrow, work with him on Monday and Tuesday and we'll see what happens in practice on Wednesday."
Shanahan did express some pleasure in seeing Garoppolo, for whom the 49ers traded a second-round pick to the Patriots last month, lead a TD drive. "It was nice to get a touchdown," the coach told reporters. "We got an off-schedule play, ran around and he made a good throw to [Murphy]. It's nice to get in the end zone."
On Garoppolo's two-minute drill, Shanahan explained: "That's just part of the process of how it is. It takes a little bit longer when it's new for him and he did a good job. I thought I was going to have to call a timeout, but I didn't have one, so I didn't have a choice. I just watched and hoped and they did a good job."
Shanahan had preached patience when it came to getting Garoppolo on the field after the mid-season trade. With Beathard hurting, and Garoppolo's first three plays as a Niner looking promising, Shanahan might find it tough to keep the quarterback out of the starting lineup against the Bears.
