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When you’re 2-10 and choosing between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard to start at quarterback, it’s hard to sell hope in December.

So with no playoffs in their near future, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan is serving up a hot dish of early evaluations on the 2019 season, with a side of expectation-dampening.

Via Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area, Shanahan said this year’s injury to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo obviously changed things, but made sure to point out the rebuild is still ongoing.

“I think we came here knowing that it was going to take some time,” Shanahan said. “I think the way we finished last year definitely accelerates everyone’s feelings and what they thought.

“But, by no means did I think we were coming into it this year and it was just going to be easy. I knew it was going to be extremely hard. The way it started off, it definitely made it a lot harder.”

At the moment, the 49ers are on pace to pick first in next year’s draft, which should help. And assuming Garoppolo returns to full health, and plays the way he did the end of last year, they should be optimistic about the future. But Shanahan also noted that these last four gams will be an important part of their grades on individual players.

“We’ve had some close ones that I believe we should have won,” Shanahan said. “That’s why I believe our record should be better than it is. But, by no means just because our record isn’t better than what it was last year does that change how I feel.

“We did some good things at the end of last year. We’ve had a number of setbacks. But, I think this is a necessary process to where we are going to go and some of the tough decisions that we have to make going into year three.”

And there are still plenty of those to make.