NFC Notes: 49ers, Fox, Reed, Fisher

It was a long awaited day for 49ers fans, as they got their first look at newly acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in today’s loss to the Seahawks. The former Pats backup signal caller got into the game because rookie starter C.J. Beathard was forced to exit with an injury. Garoppolo made good use of his mild playing time, throwing a nice touchdown pass as time expired.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan chose not to shed much light on how he’s thinking about the QB position moving forward. Although, he did mention that Beathard’s leg injury was not too serious, reports Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). While Beathard’s injury does not appear to affect his playing status moving forward, he will get additional testing tomorrow. Nevertheless, it’s notable that Shanahan wouldn’t commit to a starter for Week 13 either way, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link). However, Barrows did also tweet that the 49ers coach didn’t think about pulling his rookie starter while he was healthy.

It’ll be a tough decision considering the way Garoppolo played when he entered the game and the high pick the front office gave up to get him. Shanahan hasn’t caved into public pressure as of yet, so it’s a decision that seems to remain truly up in the air.

• If the Bears fire John Fox this offseason, Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com believes that Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo should be considered for the job. DeFilippo would be an out-of-the-box hire since he is not a coordinator, but the feeling in Philadelphia is that no one has been more instrumental in Carson Wentz‘s development than the 39-year-old. It’s possible that DeFilippo could be the guy to help rookie QB Mitch Trubisky reach his full potential. And, with anywhere from 7-10 teams potentially looking for a new head coach this offseason, DeFilippo can be expected to draw some interest.
• Redskins star tight end Jordan Reed has missed a lot of time in 2017 and looks to miss another game in Week 13, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. Keim notes that Reed didn’t practice or do any side running today as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury. Coach Jay Gruden confirmed that Reed would be held out for the next few days as well. “We’re going to take off that part of it here for a couple days, see where he’s at,” Gruden said. While there will still be some time for Reed to get on the field after, it’s tough to expect him to heal quick enough to be effective in game action considering his past injury problems.
• With the Rams surging to an 8-3 record under first-year head coach Sean McVay, a lot of criticism has been tossed at former head coach Jeff Fisher for the way he handled the offense. Fisher appeared on the Amazon show All or Nothing over this past summer and expressed desire to get back on the sideline for the 2018-19 season. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk opines that despite Fisher’s recent track record, he does bring a ton of experience in the game and has the skills to impress in the interview room. Florio hears that his name has already “bubbled up” for coaching jobs, so there’s some potential for interest to come from the NFL as well. They’ll also be a number of coaching jobs open, both head coach and as a coordinator. It’ll be a tough sell considering what has transpired in Los Angeles this season, but Fisher is clearly still held in high regard among the football community, so anything is possible.