Quarterbacks running the football has been a hot topic with the 49ers this week.
Trey Lance suffered a season-ending injury on a first-quarter rushing attempt during San Francisco's 27-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. After Jimmy Garoppolo entered the game to replace the second-year signal-caller, there was no other active quarterback on the 49ers' sideline.
Lance was out. Garoppolo was on the field. Rookie Brock Purdy was inactive. That meant fullback Kyle Juszczyk represented the team's next option under center.
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To the surprise of many, coach Kyle Shanahan called for a couple of Garoppolo quarterback runs instead of keeping the veteran in the pocket. The first attempt was a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-1 from Seattle's 11-yard line in the third quarter. Garoppolo gained three yards and moved the chains.
Was it worth the risk?
"Actually, a drop-back play is riskier than a quarterback sneak, so those are the things that really confuse me," Shanahan explained to reporters Monday. "I see guys get killed in the pocket on drop-backs, and I've never had a quarterback get hurt on the sneak before. It doesn't mean it can't happen.
"It seems that we only get interest when he is carrying the ball when he gets injured, and that's the whole thing, that there's a risk-reward with everything."
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Later on, with two minutes remaining in the game, the 49ers faced a third-and-goal with a comfortable 13-point lead.
Shanahan surprisingly called for a zone read. Garoppolo faked a handoff to Jeff Wilson Jr. and plunged forward, only to be stopped by linebacker Cody Barton at the 1-yard line.
On the next play -- fourth-and-goal -- Garoppolo took it up the middle on another sneak. This time, it worked. Six points.
"Yeah, we have to read the D-end a little bit better and get some work at that, so when the D-end does take the quarterback, you hand it off," Shanahan said of the third-and-goal play. "So, that's stuff we have to do, but that's a very normal play in all of football at all levels for everybody.
"I'm surprised you guys haven't seen some of the quarterbacks run zone read on us. When [New Orleans Saints QB] Andy Dalton walks in the end zone from the 10-yard line or [Minnesota Vikings QB] Kirk Cousins does, or a lot of the guys who do run that stuff and when you're not accounting for the quarterback, it's a pretty normal thing."
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Still, though, it was surprising to see the 49ers go to Garoppolo for back-to-back rushing plays that late in the fourth quarter with a two-possession lead.
"That's why we did it, to surprise you guys," Shanahan said to reporters. "Usually when people are surprised, it works."