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Nick Mullens Might Need Tommy John Surgery

Nick Mullens' season is over, and he might miss next season, too.

Nick Mullens' season is over, and he might miss next season, too.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said Mullens could require Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, which he injured during the fourth quarter of the 49ers 41-33 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Mullens attempted to throw a pass, but his arm hit another player's arm during the follow through, which caused the injury.

"Pretty serious injury," Shanahan said on Tuesday. "We'll let the swelling go down before we exactly decide what to do, but he'll be out."

To make matters more complicated for the 49ers, they placed practice squad quarterback Josh Johnson on the Reserve/COVID-19 List on Tuesday. And Jimmy Garopolo is still on Injured Reserve, even though he'll start practicing this week. So the 49ers currently have just one healthy quarterback -- C.J. Beathard.

Is Garoppolo able to back him up?

"No, he's not," Shanahan said. "That's only if the doctors tell me it's 100-percent safe and he feels good. I'd be very surprised if that happens. Right now, he's safe to go out to practice. We're only having a walkthrough today. But it will be fun for him to throw the ball around a little bit tomorrow. We're going to be very safe with him this week. We'll see next week, but I would be very surprised if that changes."

So the 49ers have Beathard left, and that's it. Recently, 49ers fans and media have been begging Shanahan to bench Mullens or Beathard, but Shanahan refused.

"Nick has outplayed him," Shanahan explained. "I think he did in the opportunities they've had to play, I think he did in training camp and I think he did in practice. It's not a huge difference, but we go with the guy who gives us the best chance, and we believed that was Nick."

And it was Nick. He did give the 49ers their best chance to win this season, the most ridiculous season of all time, and the 49ers fanbase didn't appreciate him. And he took he beating. And now he's broken. What a shame.