San Francisco 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens made quite a first impression in his NFL debut as he led the Niners to a 34-3 win over the Oakland Raiders on Thursday night. As his reward, head coach Kyle Shanahan says he “definitely will consider” giving Mullens another start at quarterback for the team’s next game against the New York Giants.
“Definitely will consider it,” Shanahan said per Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk. “Definitely not thinking about that right now. Our whole team played very well. Nick definitely did. I thought our guys up front played well and I thought the entire offense did. I thought the defense played their tails off. I thought the pass rush was there. I thought we tackled well, thought our punter and kicker did well so it was a very good all around win.”
Mullens completed 16 of 22 passes for 262 yards and three touchdowns to finish with a 151.9 passer rating, the highest for a quarterback making his debut since the merger in 1970.
Mullens got the start because C.J. Beathard was suffering from a wrist injury which made it hard for him to even grip the football. With 10 days until the Giants game, Beathard will have ample time to recover from that injury and potentially reclaim his starting spot.
But while Shanahan was diplomatic with his answer, it’s hard to see him not giving Mullens another shot after that epic performance against the Raiders. Mullens more than earned another opportunity to play, and barring something unexpected, he will most likely get the start against the Giants.