Quarterback C.J. Beathard sustained a knee contusion and a hip strain Sunday that could limit his practice time this week, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
Beathard's injury is not expected to keep him out of action for long, though his availability for this week could be in question. Shanahan said he would make a decision by Wednesday whether Beathard or Jimmy Garoppolo will start Sunday against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.
"To give those guys the best chance to be successful, you want to give them all the reps, which still isn't enough reps," Shanahan said. "Any time you split those evenly, it's kind of a disservice to both. If you need those reps to make a decision, I've done that before in other situations when you have to do it, but that's usually a situation you want to try to avoid."
Shanahan watched film with both quarterbacks on Sunday. The first practice of the week is scheduled for Wednesday.
Garoppolo played three snaps Sunday in the 49ers' 24-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He scrambled for 4 yards, tossed an 8-yard pass to Aldrick Robinson and a 10-yard scoring throw to Louis Murphy.
Garoppolo entered the game with 1:07 remaining after Beathard went down with an injury. Beathard has completed 123 of 224 pass attempts (54.9 percent) for 1,430 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions and a passer rating of 69.2.
