SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Apparently there is a third option.While most San Francisco 49ers observers focused on signing Kirk Cousins in the offseason or using a high draft pick on a collegiate standout to serve the role as the club’s quarterback of the future, team management reportedly went in a different direction Monday, acquiring New England Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo in a trade.Multiple reports said the 49ers gave up a second-round pick to get Tom Brady’s backup.The pick reportedly is the 49ers’ own second-round pick next year, not the one they own from the New Orleans Saints.The move came within an hour after 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan praised rookie C.J. Beathard’s play in Sunday’s 33-10 loss at Philadelphia, and insisted the third-round pick gave the club their best chance of winning moving forward.”I have a lot of respect of how he battled in that game. He took a beating,” Shanahan said. “Didn’t shy away from it. You can see it in the guys’ eyes on the sideline when you talk to them, when you ask them what plays they want. I thought he got more aggressive as the game went, which some people would be the opposite.”By no means was everything perfect, but I believe in the guy as a person. And he showed that.”It was also reported that Brian Hoyer, the 49ers’ starting quarterback for the first six losses of an 0-8 season, would be released.A second-round pick in 2014, Garoppolo has made two NFL starts. The 26-year-old has completed 63 of 94 passes for 690 yards and five touchdowns, with no interceptions.He can become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.Garoppolo joins a team that’s in total disarray on the offensive line.The starting tackles — Joe Staley (fractured orbital in right eye) and Trent Brown (concussion) — are injured, and the club currently employs only one backup, Garry Gilliam, who suffered a knee injury after just 15 offensive snaps at Philadelphia.Gilliam is expected to be placed on injured reserve this week, while Staley is expected to be out several weeks. Only Brown is a possibility to face the Arizona Cardinals in a home game Sunday.Gilliam started in place of Brown at Philadelphia, with Zane Beadles, a backup guard, replacing Gilliam after he got hurt.Another backup guard, Erik Magnuson, took over after Staley was hurt, meaning the 49ers finished the game with a pair of tackles who had never played the position previously in the NFL.Meanwhile, right guard Brandon Fusco played the entire game at Philadelphia with a biceps injury.”We’re going to have to make some moves, especially at the tackle position,” Shanahan reported Monday. “Over the next 24 hours, we’re going to have to work on this to fill out our roster, decide on who can go on IR, to know what roster spots are open. And the guys that aren’t on IR, decide who we’ll have to let go to bring guys up, possibly to get some guys out there.”-Shanahan admitted Monday he has no idea who he’ll be starting on his offensive line Sunday when the 49ers host the Arizona Cardinals.His club’s safety shuffle is equally dizzying.Free safety Jimmie Ward, who played only 15 defensive snaps Sunday at Philadelphia, will be going on injured reserve this week with a broken arm.He could be replaced by backup Adrian Colbert, as he was for most of the game against the Eagles.Except that the 49ers already had their best strong safety, Eric Reid, playing linebacker, a position he doesn’t like. And Jaquiski Tartt played the position of a healthy player (strong safety) instead of replacing an injured player (free safety).”To be honest with you guys right now, I’d be leaning toward getting (Reid) back to strong safety, and getting Tartt back there at free,” Shanahan disclosed rather off-the-cuff Monday. “We’ll discuss it over the next 24 hours.”-In his first year as head coach, Shanahan has tended to take a long-term approach to personnel matters. But in this case, he’s also got to field a team to face the Cardinals this week.”Not all of it is clear-cut,” he explained. “It’s more just trying to get an idea for how long things are going to be because you’ve got to make the decision. When guys are hurt, that’s the tough thing.”They can’t play when they’re hurt. But if they’re not going to be out for a long period of time, you can’t also sign other guys to replace them. They still count on your active roster. So, trying to find out how serious some of the injuries are, how long they’ll be out … kind of limits what you can do until you know for sure whether you’re going to have that roster spot.”-The 49ers went from the little engine that barely couldn’t to an out-of-control locomotive heading downhill in a hurry in the span of just two weeks.What happened?”We’ve been on the road three out of the last four weeks, going against teams three out of the last four games against teams coming off bye weeks,” Shanahan said. “We’ve been playing some competitive football games. And these last two haven’t been that way.”I think guys have been grinding. They’ve been battling. The more you do that, the more tired your body gets. It’s not just us, it’s the whole league. It’s this time of year. And that’s what I’ve dealt with every season. Sometimes your luck is worse than others. Right now, it hasn’t been too great. But you’ve got to deal with it and you’ve got to embrace it and you’ve got to rise to the occasion.”Shanahan downplayed the role being winless has had on the 40-10 (home loss against Dallas) and 33-10 (at Philadelphia) scores the past two games.”Of course, it wears on you. Nobody wants to be 0-8,” he said. “We’re here to win. And so it is tough. If you sit there and you think about those words and the record too much and, yeah, it will affect you big time.”But sitting and dwelling on that and worrying about your ego and things like that, it’s not going to make you play better. It’s not going to make you coach better. So you’ve got to check yourself once you start doing that. We need to get a win, and thinking about the past is not going to help us get a win. So you’ve got to move on.”We had some good meetings (Monday). Players will hopefully rest their bodies (Tuesday), and we’ll come back Wednesday and keep working on how to get a win.”-“I was pretty optimistic about it last week and it didn’t work out, so I don’t want to jump to conclusions on that.” — 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, on whether injured middle linebacker Reuben Foster (sore ribs/back spasms) is expected to play Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals.NOTES: RB Matt Breida scored his first NFL touchdown on a 21-yard pass from QB C.J. Beathard in Sunday’s loss at Philadelphia. The rookie had a team-high 39 yards in receptions in the game. … WR Pierre Garcon (strained neck) had to leave Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. He made two catches on four targets for 17 yards. Garcon is questionable for the Week 9 home game against Arizona. … G/T Zane Beadles was pressed into duty at right tackle in Sunday’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles because of multiple injuries. … G/T Erik Magnuson replaced injured LT Joe Staley for 41 of the 49ers’ 66 offensive snaps in Sunday’s loss at Philadelphia. Magnuson was pressed into duty at tackle for the first time in his NFL career because the 49ers’ chief backup, G/T Garry Gilliam, was already subbing for injured RT Trent Brown. … LT Joe Staley (fractured orbital in right eye) left Sunday’s game at Philadelphia after having played just 25 offensive snaps. He remained in Philadelphia overnight after the game, but reported Monday that no surgery will be required. His hope: To be back in the lineup by the end of the season. … RT Trent Brown (concussion) missed Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. He is expected to return to practice this week and be back in the starting lineup for the Week 9 home game against Arizona. … DT Solomon Thomas (MCL sprain) had to leave Sunday’s game at Philadelphia with the injury. He is expected to miss at least two games, with the 49ers hopeful he could return following their bye in Week 11. … DT Earl Mitchell recorded his first sack as a 49er in Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia. He now has 6.5 sacks in his career. … DT D.J. Jones (knee) was unable to finish Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. He almost surely will miss the Week 9 game against Arizona. … DT Noble Nwachukwu was re-signed to the 49ers’ practice squad Monday. The undrafted rookie began the season on the practice squad, but was released on Oct. 11. … DT Jeremy Liggins was released by the 49ers on Monday. Liggins had been on the club’s practice squad for three weeks. … DE Aaron Lynch (strained calf) missed Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. the 49ers hope to get him back at practice this week. … MLB Reuben Foster (bruised ribs/back spasms) sat out Sunday’s game at Philadelphia after making the trip. The injuries are not considered serious, and the 49ers hope to have Foster back at practice this week. … CB Ahkello Witherspoon has replaced CB Rashard Robinson as a starting cornerback, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan reported Monday. … CB K’Waun Williams (strained quad) was inactive for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. The 49ers are hoping to get Williams back on the field for practice this week, making him a possibility for Sunday’s game against Arizona.REPORT CARD VS. EAGLES-PASSING OFFENSE: F — C.J. Beathard threw so many short passes behind people, you had to wonder if the rain was fogging up his contacts. And when he scrambled, his eyes never left the grass, as if he were looking for puddles rather than receivers who had broken open. Six runs for 40 yards sounds good, but only if Marquise Goodwin wasn’t wide open somewhere downfield. We’ll never know if that was the case.-RUSHING OFFENSE: D-minus — On a day when ball control could have been critical in bad weather, the 49ers managed just four rushing first downs. They tried running only 18 times, if you factor out Beathard’s six scrambles. Instead, they threw a lot of short passes the rookie quarterback had a hard time completing.-PASS DEFENSE: B-plus — The score was one-sided, but it sure wasn’t a comfortable day for Eagles star Carson Wentz. He was sacked three times, held to his second-lowest yardage of the season (211) and was intercepted for just the fifth time all year. His passer rating of 84.2 was well below his rating 104.0 entering the game.-RUSH DEFENSE: A-minus — Given that they enjoyed a big lead throughout the second half, it’s surprising the Eagles weren’t able to put up more than 112 rushing yards. It sure beat the lay-down effort the 49ers had against the Dallas Cowboys and Ezekiel Elliott the week before. LeGarrette Blount was no Elliott on this day, totaling just 48 hard-earned yards.-SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus — Another missed field goal, just a total of 9 return yards and a punt that rolled into the end zone while the cover crew surrounded the return man. Not a terrible day by most teams’ standards, but the 49ers have set the bar higher this season. They were outplayed on special teams, and that doesn’t happen often.-COACHING: F — Some applaud the fact that head coach Kyle Shanahan stuck with C.J. Beathard even though he did things that would have gotten him demoted on a high school team. When Shanahan pulled Brian Hoyer two weeks earlier, he said it was because Beathard gave the team a better chance to win. In this case, sticking with an overwhelmed rookie assured the team had no chance.
