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Shanahan offers insights on Sunday’s heros, discusses future for Beathard and Foster

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After the 49ers’ 31-21 win over the Giants on Sunday, Kyle Shanahan said C.J. Beathard’s breakout performance didn’t give him any pause on when he would play Jimmy Garoppolo. But a day later, Shanahan was striking a slightly different tone and, possibly, the 49ers aren’t as eager to wedge Garoppolo into a start any time soon.

“C.J. played pretty well, I thought he had his best game,” Shanahan said. “I thought he has gotten better each week in practice. He got to show it in the game the most. I thought the guys around him played their best game too, which definitely makes it easier to keep everyone out there and keep that going.”

Reading between the lines, Shanahan might be saying it could be hard to give Beathard the hook when he’s earning the admiration of his teammates and he’s playing well. Maybe Shanahan might have trouble in the locker room if he takes him out for Garoppolo.

It adds yet more complication in what’s developing into a quarterback controversy, dare we say. The 49ers have a week to mull their options and that includes a bye week in which Garoppolo will learn more the offense. Rehabilitating players like Trent Taylor (ribs) and the newly-acquired Louis Murphy will be around for Garoppolo to throw to.

On another topic, Shanahan relayed what it is was like for him and for wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who in the midst of the tremendous grief of losing a child, made the best play of the season.

Goodwin was with the team at the hotel Saturday night, he then got a call from the hospital that his wife was experiencing complications with her pregnancy. Goodwin left the team and attended to his wife. The couple’s son was born prematurely at 4 a.m. Sunday, and Goodwin returned to the team.

He met with Chaplain Earl Smith and then talked to Shanahan. He told the coach he wanted to play.

“He was struggling with it for obvious reasons,” Shanahan said. “He decided to play, which we were very grateful for. He helped his family from that aspect, and he helped his family here too.”

Once Goodwin scored on the 83-yard pass from Beathard in the second quarter, Shanahan braced for a delay of game penalty because he knew there would be a prolonged end zone celebration. He had yet another encounter with Goodwin after he made a punishing block to free up tight end Garrett Celek’s 47-yard touchdown catch-and-run.

Goodwin was down on the back after getting the wind knocked out of him when Shanahan approached. He said he knew he was OK when he saw him smile.

In other news:

-Free safety Adrian Colbert broke “part of his thumb” according to Shanahan. That’s the third week in a row a 49ers free safety has broken either an arm or a thumb. Shanahan said Colbert could miss the Seattle game on Nov. 26. “He did it early in the fourth quarter, he played through the whole game with it, it was extremely tough of him,” Shanahan said.

-Shanahan sees Reuben Foster as his future middle linebacker, saying he has the charisma to be the defensive play caller. But for now, Foster will stay as the “will” outside linebacker spot until he learns the defense well enough to be in the middle.

-Shanahan said that defensive lineman Ronald Blair played well and that he provides the team with a lot of versatility because he can play all the defensive-line spots.

The team will have the entire week off and will reconvene a week from today.