49ers set to face Cardinals’ Colt McCoy, not Kyler Murray, in Mexico

According to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport and other sources, the Arizona Cardinals are set to start Colt McCoy tonight against the San Francisco 49ers in Mexico City. On Saturday, the team listed its regular starter, Kyler Murray, as “questionable” due to a hamstring injury. Murray will miss his second consecutive game for the Cardinals.

There was some question about whether McCoy would be healthy enough to start tonight’s game. Like Murray, he was limited in practices this past week due to a knee injury sustained in Week 10 against the Los Angeles Rams. However, unlike Murray, McCoy did not appear on the Cardinals’ Saturday injury report.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the quarterback uncertainty leading to the Week 11 matchup.

“I think the thing that helps us the most is that we faced both of them last year,” Shanahan told NBC Sports Bay Area. “Last year, you’ve got to get so ready for Kyler because of his skillset that’s as unique as anyone on the planet. And then we prepared for him the next game, and he ended up not playing. We knew Colt had a chance, but we thought Kyler was going to play. And then you get ready for Colt.

“Now, seeing both, you get ready for them the same way. It’s not like the offense is drastically different. They do what they do. They get the ball in their playmakers’ hands a lot. Colt doesn’t have the same 40 [time] as Kyler. Neither does anybody, so nothing against Colt. So some of that stuff is different, but he executes that offense at a high level, and we found that out last year.”

Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans admitted that the 49ers didn’t overthink the situation this week while game planning for the Cardinals, despite acknowledging that each quarterback brings something different to the table.

“If Colt plays, Colt is a guy who runs their offense very efficiently, he gets the ball out fairly quickly, makes really good decisions with the football, so he’s another guy who we have to be on,” Ryans said. “You have to be tight with your coverage. You have to be disciplined with both of these guys. The big word that comes up throughout the week for us is just us being disciplined. Whether it’s the quarterback run game, whether it’s Colt playing, you have to be on tight with your coverages.

“We just have to be disciplined in everything we do. And it never changes. No matter who’s playing quarterback, it will always be about us defensively and playing our best.”

Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, also listed as “questionable,” is expected to play.