SANTA CLARA – First-year 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens has proved himself to a lot of people while starting every game in the second half of the season.
It might have taken a while, but 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan can now unequivocally state that he believes Mullens has a long professional career ahead of him.
“He’s proved to me that he’s an NFL quarterback,” Shanahan said on “49ers Game Plan,” which airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on NBC Bay Area (Ch. 3).
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“We like Nick a lot – we have since college. That’s why we kept him around here on the practice squad.”
After spending his entire rookie season and the first three weeks of this season on the practice squad, Mullens got the promotion to the 49ers’ 53-man roster after Jimmy Garoppolo sustained a season-ending knee injury at Kansas City.
And when C.J. Beathard was unable to play on a midseason Thursday night against the Raiders due to thumb and wrist injuries, Mullens got the call. While Shanahan said he had confidence in Mullens' ability to run the offense, he was uncertain how Mullens would handle the situation.
“You never really know until you get into a real NFL game, not preseason, how you’ll be able to handle the pressure, the speed of the game, how talented people are," Shanahan said. "And Nick has done it better and better each week."
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Mullens has completed 153 of 241 pass attempts (63.5 percent) for 1,995 yards in seven starts with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
He needs just 67 yards passing Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams to climb to No. 4 in passing yards through eight NFL starts since 1970. Patrick Mahomes tops the list with 2,504 yards in his first eight games.
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Mullens had one of the best starting debuts in NFL history with a 151.9 passer rating in a 34-3 win over the Raiders on Nov. 1 at Levi's Stadium.
“I try to stay pretty even keel compared to everyone else,” Shanahan said. “After the Oakland game, I wasn’t as excited as everyone else was, even though it was one of the best games ever for guy in his first game.
“You try to temper that as a coach. But now he’s played in seven games, and I’m getting there.”
Assuming Garoppolo’s rehab continues to progress on schedule with no setbacks, he will be the 49ers’ starter next season. Mullens and Beathard will compete for the backup job. Last offseason, there was no competition for either of the team’s top two spots. Mullens was locked in as the No. 3 quarterback.
“Nick can play, and I’m excited to bring him back here and have him compete with the other guys, but also knowing we have three pretty good quarterbacks in our building,” Shanahan said. “And I don’t think a lot of people can say that.”