The San Francisco 49ers haven’t had Brandon Aiyuk all season. Starting quarterback Brock Purdy has been off a football field for nearly a month. General manager John Lynch spoke about how close both players are to returning to action during an interview on KNBR Thursday morning.
Lynch explained why putting a hard date on Purdy’s injury is a challenge:
A hard timeline is difficult because it’s kind of a feel thing. And how he feels, that’s still out there and TBD. But we’re closer, we do know that.
I think this week, in particular, last week, I think we made some progress. And so, that has Brock encouraged. It has everyone encouraged.
What are the 49ers looking for when it comes to Purdy’s health? Lynch believes it’s whether Brock feels like himself:
Namely, it’s like, ‘Hey, do you feel like yourself?’ There’s doctor, and sometimes doctors have to hold the player back. And so, there’s those benchmarks and things, the type of testing that you can get past that. But I think the athlete knows their body extremely well.
And I think Brock knows he plays a certain way, and you can’t change the way you play to make it easier to play, and he’s not going to. He’s only going to play one way, so he’s got to be right to play that way, both from a medical standpoint and all that. So, we’re trusting Brock. We’re trusting the doctors. We’ll make a good decision on it and that’s why it’s taken some time.
Purdy did not look the same after his first down scramble against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After that run, most of his throws were high and off target. Understanding mobility is a significant part of Purdy’s game; it sounds like the 49ers want to ensure he has that aspect back before he can step onto the field again.
As for Aiyuk, we’re about a year removed from his knee injury. Lynch believes there’s more than just hope that Aiyuk plays this season:
Oh yeah, there’s hope he plays. There’s, more importantly than hope, there’s some evidence. He’s making really good progress. He’s been putting in the time, and I think that it’s coming nearer as to when he’s going to be out there.
The closest target date we’ve heard about Aiyuk was from Kyle Shanahan when he floated Week 10 around. We’ll see if that changes as we get closer to that date.
