San Francisco 49ers fans were elated to finally see Jimmy Garoppolo take the field, regardless of what it took to vault the young quarterback into action.
Garoppolo made his 49ers debut Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks after starting QB C.J. Beathard went down with a lower-body injury late in the game. Beathard had thrown for 201 yards prior to exiting the contest, but San Francisco fans cheered after the rookie signal-caller went down, knowing Jimmy G would be his replacement.
No one can blame 49ers fans for being excited about Garoppolo, but several members of the team voiced their frustration over the fans’ joyous reaction to Beathard’s injury.
“Our starting (quarterback) got hurt and people are cheering before he even stands up,” safety Eric Reid told Curtis Pashelka of the Mercury News. “That pisses me off. I’m disappointed in our fans. I understand the excitement about Jimmy, he’s a great player, but that’s not right.”
Rookie linebacker Reuben Foster echoed Reid’s sentiments.
“First of all, I wanted to say our fans are better than that,” Foster said. “You wait until a guy gets up to cheer, not when a guy’s down. Then when he’s up, you cheer.”
Beathard had been a pleasant surprise for the 49ers after replacing Brian Hoyer in Week 7. The Iowa product led San Francisco to its first win of the season in Week 10, and his impressive play has stalled Garoppolo’s emergence in the offense.
But even if Beathard is healthy enough to make his next start, the 49ers will have a tough decision to make as to who gets the nod under center in Week 13 against the Chicago Bears.
