These are interesting words coming from the general manager of a football team that’s 1-9 on the season and has seen his quarterbacks combine for eight touchdowns compared to nine interceptions on the season.
But first-year San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch is thinking bigger picture here. Just a couple weeks after acquiring young quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots, Lynch doesn’t seem interested in rushing the talented signal caller on to the field.
“We want to set Jimmy up for success and also the way C.J.’s (Beathard) playing is helping us sit back. And now we have a bye week,” Lynch said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “They’re going to work hard during this week to get him up to speed. But right now, we don’t need him. C.J. just played a great game and his teammates really believe in him. We think it’s nothing but a good situation.”
For his part, Beathard is coming off the best performance of his career. The rookie third-round pick put up over 300 total yards with three touchdowns in last week’s blowout win over the Giants — San Francisco’s first victory of the season.
Some might be pining for Garoppolo to get action under center, but his acquisition was not to save an already lost 2017 campaign. The two are already working on a contract extension and San Francisco views him to be its quarterback of the future.
“People have had all these ideas about why we got Jimmy,” Lynch continued. “We got Jimmy because we think he has big-time ability at the quarterback position. And we believe so much – to get where we need to get – you have to have a franchise quarterback.”
Currently on a bye week, the 49ers have yet to name a starter for their Week 12 outing against the Seattle Seahawks. There’s definitely a chance Garoppolo will be under center. But the team simply isn’t going to rush him out their for the sake of appeasing fans. That’s for sure.