NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco does not expect the 49ers to play Raheem Mostert or George Kittle for the rest of the 2020 NFL season after their loss to the Cowboys on Sunday.
- Editor's note: This was published before ESPN reported that the 49ers will sign Josh Rosen to their practice squad.
The 49ers’ current quarterback depth chart consists of C.J. Beathard and. . .
Uh, that’s all.
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Nick Mullens is out for the final two games of the season and is expected to undergo Tommy John surgery to repair his ulnar collateral ligament on his throwing elbow. He faces a lengthy rehabilitation.
The 49ers opened the practice window Tuesday for quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has been out since Nov. 1 with a severe high-ankle sprain. But Garoppolo will not be available to play Saturday against the Arizona Cardinals and is not expected to suit up for Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks, either.
The 49ers signed veteran quarterback Josh Johnson to the practice squad in early-November for an emergency such as this. But on Tuesday, Johnson landed on the NFL's reserve/COVID-19 list.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a backup for the game,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
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Because of the six-day period it takes for a free agent to clear the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, the 49ers do not have time to sign someone off the street to be available to suit up for Saturday’s game as a backup.
However, they are allowed to sign a player off another team’s practice squad because those players are already in the NFL’s testing cycle.
But that might not be as simple as it sounds.
“You’ll try anyone you can, and if they say, ‘No,’ you go to the next one,” Shanahan said. “It’s always harder with a playoff team, because they’re going to get the playoff bonus and stuff like that. It’s much harder to get a guy to leave those situations. That’s why you got to be up for everything.”
Josh Rosen, the No. 10 overall pick in the 2018 draft, is on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ practice squad. Tampa Bay (9-5) is currently the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Rookie quarterback Bryce Perkins would be an option off the Los Angeles Rams’ practice squad because of the similarities in the systems. But the Rams (9-5) are the fifth seed in the playoffs.
Any practice-squad player on a playoff-bound team would be giving up the possibility of earning a Super Bowl ring or a promotion to see playing time in the postseason.
Veteran quarterback Blake Bortles is an option off the Denver Broncos’ practice squad. The Cincinnati Bengals run a system similar to the 49ers, and they have two quarterbacks on their practice squad: former Stanford standout Kevin Hogan and Kyle Shurmur.
If all else fails, the final option is backup running back Jerick McKinnon, who played quarterback at Georgia Southern, to serve as Beathard's backup.
“If someone doesn’t come off someone’s practice squad and come to our team, there’s no other option,” Shanahan said. “If we can’t get someone off someone’s practice squad that’s exactly what we’ll have to do. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep C.J. healthy so it doesn’t get to that.
“But if it does, can’t just go home. You got to play the game, so we’ll have to be prepared for that. We’re not going to spend our whole week practicing that or anything, but it’s something you got to do on the side and have a couple guys in case of an emergency who can function.”
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Here are quarterbacks who are currently on the practice squads of NFL teams:
Bound for playoffs
Davis Webb, Buffalo (Cal); Kyle Lauletta, Cleveland (Richmond); Matt Moore, Kansas City (Oregon State); Bryce Perkins, L.A. Rams (Virginia); Reid Sinnett, Miami (San Diego); Devlin Hodges, Pittsburgh (Samford); Danny Etling, Seattle (LSU); Alex McGough, Seattle (Florida International); Josh Rosen, Tampa Bay (UCLA); DeShone Kizer, Tennessee (Notre Dame)
In contention
Tyler Huntley, Baltimore (Utah); Kyle Sloter, Chicago (Northern Colorado); Cooper Rush, Dallas (Central Michigan); Jordan Ta’amu, Detroit (Mississippi); Jake Browning, Minnesota (Washington); Nathan Stanley, Minnesota (Iowa); Alex Tanney, N.Y. Giants (Monmouth); Clayton Thorson, N.Y. Giants (Northwestern); Steven Montez, Washington (Colorado)
Out of playoffs
Kurt Benkert, Atlanta (Virginia); Tyler Bray, Carolina (Tennessee); Tommy Stevens, Carolina (Mississippi State); Kevin Hogan, Cincinnati (Stanford); Kyle Shurmur, Cincinnati (Vanderbilt); Blake Bortles, Denver (Central Florida); Jacob Dolegala, New England (Central Connecticut State); Mike White, N.Y. Jets (Western Kentucky)