C.J. Beathard has lofty expectations for himself, just as all quarterbacks do. He spent the beginning of the week pouring over the film of the San Francisco 49ers 40-10 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. It certainly wasn't a storybook finish to his first-career NFL start, but there's still plenty to glean from the tape.
"You can learn something from every play. Whether it's a good play, a bad play, you're always trying to get better," Beathard said on Wednesday. "That's just how perfectionists are. You want to be perfect. You just want to do the best you can and get better at every step of the way."
Beathard threw for 235 yards, the most by any 49ers rookie in his first-career start, and ran for a touchdown against the Cowboys. He began his film review Sunday night following the loss and then sat down with head coach Kyle Shanahan to go through the tape together Monday morning.
"It's always more fun to watch tape that you were successful in. But, it's also fun to watch tape with a guy who I know is soaking everything in," head coach Kyle Shanahan said. "Just talking with (Beathard) through text last night, I could tell he was watching it a ton last night, having a bunch of questions even before we got in (on Monday). It's always fun when you can get with a guy and you feel you have a chance to help him get better. I enjoy meeting with him because he asks good questions and I think he learns from every rep that he gets."
Beyond his 480 passing yards through just over six quarters of play, Beathard has also shown to have some intangible traits as well. Beathard has taken his share of big hits thus far, and after each one, the rookie gets back to his feet unfazed. That kind of toughness has already made an impression on his teammates.
"C.J. is fearless out there when you see him take some shots," fullback Kyle Juszczyk said. "He pops right back up like its nothing. It kind of fires you up a little bit. Like 'alright, if my quarterback can do this, I can put it on the line for him.'"
Another one of Beathard's strong suits is his short memory, a mandatory trait for any successful quarterback. His belief in himself will never be shaken by a mistake or two.
"He flushes everything really fast. That's one thing (Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz) taught us. You have 24 hours to sulk or feel bad about a loss, or be happy about a win, and then you flush it and move on to the next game," tight end George Kittle said. "C.J. is a confident player. You can throw an interception or lose a game it doesn't matter. The next play or the next game, he's going to come back as a great player."
Beathard's first road start will take place on Sunday against the 6-1 Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wentz and Co. own the NFL's fifth-ranked scoring offense. The rookie knows that it's up to him to help the 49ers keep pace in Week 8.
"We've got a big game this week ahead of us and we're all looking forward to that and hopefully get our first win," Beathard added.
