Jimmy Garoppolo is out for the season with a torn ACL

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was forced to leave their game against the Kansas City Chiefs after taking a hit in the fourth quarter. On Monday, the news the franchise feared came down from team doctors — the team’s offensive leader would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Garoppolo was placed on injured reserve Wednesday, and undrafted second-year quarterback Nick Mullens was promoted to the active roster. Mullens spent all of 2017 and the first three weeks of the 2018 season on the 49ers’ practice squad.

Garoppolo was running down the sideline, cut back to the middle of the field, and was leveled:

49ers staff was seen looking at Garoppolo’s leg, and would bring out the cart to take him to the locker room. C.J. Beathard would come in to replace Garoppolo. It’s worth noting that it didn’t look like Garoppolo’s knee was contacted in the collision, so even though he took a big hit, it’s more of a non-contact injury — which didn’t bode well for the passer.

San Francisco feared a serious injury in the immediate aftermath of the play.

“With Jimmy we’re fearing ACL. We’ll find out tomorrow. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet. I feel for him,” Shanahan said.

Garoppolo became the highest paid player in the NFL after signing a 5-year deal with the team in February. He was in the final year of his rookie deal when he was traded by the Patriots to the 49ers, and took over as the team’s starter last season, going 5-0.

The 49ers came into Sunday’s game with a 1-1 record, and had struggled with the Chiefs in the first half, down 35-10. Beathard had a touchdown pass called back due to offensive pass interference, and the Chiefs won the game, 38-27.

In addition to the promotion of Mullens, the 49ers will likely be looking to add a quarterback to backup Beathard, a second-year player. The first man up is former Texan Tom Savage.