Local and national media had been hinting leading up to Friday that the San Francisco 49ers would go another game with Mac Jones under center, as Brock Purdy fully recovers from a turf toe injury he suffered
in Week 4.
During a radio interview on KNBR Thursday afternoon, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan explained the process of what it takes for a player to return to the field after not playing or practicing for so long:
“When a guy’s missed a month or three games in a row, then it’s never a consideration whether he can go on Sunday. I mean, if a guy’s missed that long, he’s got to get back into practice and give himself and everyone else the confidence that he’s okay and can be good by Sunday.”
Purdy is among the players who are questionable for Sunday. The following players were ruled out:
Jake Brendel
Yetur Gross-Matos
Bryce Huff
Ricky Pearsall
Questionable:
Ben Bartch
Spencer Burford
Sam Okuayinonu
Dee Winters
Brock Purdy
Jordan Elliott
Despite Purdy’s status, “Mac’s gonna start,” per Shanahan. Purdy’s toe isn’t fully healthy. He did not take all of the starter reps this week.
Shanahan mentioned how the 49ers may have jumped the gun the last time Brock returned from injury. The team gave him all of the starter reps during practice, but that led to a setback the first time he was hit. Shanahan said the team didn’t want to commit to Purdy getting all of the reps during the practice week, in hopes of easing Purdy back into the flow of things.
When asked whether Brock received a lot of the starter reps this week, Kyle said, “I wouldn’t say a lot.” As you’d imagine, Shanahan wasn’t in the mood to go into detail about his franchise quarterback’s injury, from the risk of a re-injury to what he’s doing during practice.
Shanahan hasn’t seen Purdy outwardly frustrated about his injury:
Brock’s a pretty composed guy, so he’s not going to get emotional either way, in either situation. He’s never going to get too up or too down. Just speaking for him, I know he’s frustrated. Anytime you’ve got stuff that you haven’t had before, that lingers, Brock is more frustrated than anyone that he can’t be out there.
He’s talked to a lot of people who have had this, and a lot of people warned him that this was the case. So it’s not totally shocked him. I think anytime you have something that doesn’t go away, it’s frustrating.
I remember I hadn’t sprained my ankle my whole life. And I got my first high-ankle sprain in my fifth year of college because it felt better than the ten regular ankle sprains I’ve had in my life. I couldn’t walk for a month. I missed a whole month of football. You don’t really get it. It lingers and it doesn’t go away. I haven’t had a toe injury, so I don’t fully relate to it, but people who have, it sounds very similar, if not worse when you’re dealing with turf toe compared to something like that. It’s something he’s dealing with, but I know we’re getting closer.
The 49ers are acknowledging a previous mistake and playing it slow this time around. You can’t afford Purdy to have a setback when you know your offense is going to have to do most of the heavy-lifting for the rest of the season if this team is going to make the playoffs.
As for the offensive linemen, “I think Burford is ahead of Bartch,” Shanahan said. We will see if Bartch is healthy enough to return as a starter. The 49ers have struggled mightily against the run this year, largely because they’re playing a seventh-round rookie.
The expectation is for Keion White to make his season debut with the 49ers against the Giants. Here’s what Shanahan has seen from White this week during practice:
“I thought he had a good week. He got here right before practice on Wednesday. He was able to clear everything and get going. So he was able to make that practice, which I think was huge. To get two full-speed practices in and the walkthrough today, I think it was really good for him. It gives him a chance to help us out Sunday.”
There’s a chance that Clelin Ferrell is activated. On whether Shanahan saw enough from Farrell during practice this week to play on Sunday:
“We’re real low on numbers, so everyone has a chance. We have guys that are questionable. Guys that are banged up. But also just, separating that, we’re real familiar with Cle. He looked really good in all of these practices. If it makes sense in our 48 then no doubt about it.”
With Gross-Matos out, the 49ers are so thin at the position that it’s between Ferrell and William Bradley-King to be active on Sunday. Ferrell’s familiarity and experience likely give him the nod.
