49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo Replaced by Nick Mullens After Aggravating Ankle Injury

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is questionable to return to Sunday's contest against the Seattle Seahawks after making his way to the locker room at the beginning of the fourth quarter with an ankle injury, with Nick Mullens taking over under center for the Niners.

San Francisco trailed 27-7 at the time Garoppolo exited, and the veteran quarterback had completed 11 of his 16 pass attempts for 84 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception.

"I knew it was hurt once we all saw it and he didn't go back in on that one play," head coach Kyle Shanahan said after his team's 37-27 loss, per ESPN's Nick Wagoner. "He had a good week of practice throwing, but high ankle sprains linger, so you never know when it's going to affect you. I know he hurt it later in the game, or re-hurt it, and we'll wait until tomorrow to see how bad it is."

Garoppolo enjoyed a breakout 2019 season with 27 touchdowns and a 102.0 passer rating before leading the Niners to an appearance in Super Bowl LIV. The campaign helped show he was capable of being a franchise signal-caller after an injury-shortened 2018 campaign.

He entered this week's action having completed 66.9 percent of his passes in 2020 for 1,012 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions.

The 28-year-old Illinois native was limited to three appearances in 2018 because of a torn ACL. He bounced back to play all 16 regular-season games last year. He suffered an ankle injury in the team's Week 2 game against the New York Giants this year that forced him back to the sideline, though.

Mullens is in line to draw any starts the former New England Patriots reserve can't make for the remainder of the season. C.J. Beathard will fill the backup role.

The dropoff from Garoppolo to Mullens is considerable, so the Niners' offense is likely to take a hit without its top quarterback available. It's quickly become an injury-riddled year for San Francisco, which has increased the difficulty of making another deep run.