Wednesday, December 01, 1999
Niners consider QB change
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — San Francisco coach Steve Mariucci said Tuesday he hadn't decided whether Steve Stenstrom or Jeff Garcia would start Sunday at Cincinnati, as the struggling 49ers (3-8) search for answers.
Mariucci said there is a possibility Pat Barnes, released by the Oakland Raiders near the end of training camp and signed by San Francisco a month ago, would also get a chance to play at some point this season.
Garcia and Stenstrom, both untested and inexperienced, have gone 1-7 since replacing Steve Young, who's not expected to play again this season because of a head blow Sept. 27 that caused his fourth concussion in three years.
San Francisco's offense, ranked No. 1 in the league last season behind two-time league MVP Young, has ground to a halt. Monday night's 20-3 loss to Green Bay marked the seventh straight defeat for the 49ers and the third time in four games they failed to score a touchdown.
“You can't just lay it on the quarterback,” Mariucci said. “Obviously, that's the guy that sticks out like a sore thumb, because he's the passer. We need to be more productive at that position and we have been used to great production at that position. We're working tirelessly to make it better.”
Stenstrom, signed as a free agent after starting six games for Chicago last season, is 1-9 lifetime as a starter and 0-3 since taking over for an ineffective Garcia.
• 49ers running back Garrison Hearst's comeback will have to wait until next season, if it happens at all.
Hearst, who set a team record for the 49ers when he rushed for 1,570 yards in 1998, will finish the year where he began it — on the physically unable to perform list, Mariucci said.
Hearst hasn't played since breaking his left ankle in an NFC divisional playoff at Atlanta last Jan. 9. Circulatory complications prevented proper healing and caused a portion of a bone in his foot to die, and his recovery has gone slowly.
In another move, the 49ers placed cornerback and returner R.W. McQuarters on injured reserve with a fractured right shoulder blade, finishing him for the season. McQuarters was injured Monday night.
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