Brock Purdy to miss practice with injury; 49ers QB ‘a long shot’ to play Week 2
“Shanahan said it is a long shot that Purdy plays Sunday against the New Orleans Saints and he could miss multiple weeks due to a toe injury.”
Kyle Shanahan previews 49ers-Saints Week 2 matchup “San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed reporters ahead of Wednesday’s practice as the team gears up for its Week 2 matchup against
the New Orleans Saints. Here’s everything he said.”
49ers mailbag: What’s the plan at No. 3 QB? Does Trent Williams always start slow? (paywall)
“[Saleh] is no longer a little-known, first-time coordinator. I think you can see it in his swagger, his confidence and his authority during news conferences. Also, I’m not sure Saleh was initially all that fond of hiring defensive line coach Kris Kocurek back in 2019. (There was no personal issue, but it was not a defensive style Saleh preferred.) That appeared to be a Shanahan-influenced move. I think Saleh is way more comfortable with Kocurek and that style now — they were bro-hugging like there was no tomorrow at the end of Sunday’s game — and I don’t think Shanahan would make a move like that nowadays.”
49ers’ big miss on Jake Moody adds to series of recent draft whiffs. What happened? (paywall)
“It’s worth noting that the 49ers’ poor drafts roughly coincided with a front-office brain drain as the 49ers lost a series of high-level talent evaluators. Martin Mayhew became the Commanders general manager after the 2020 season, Ethan Waugh was hired as the Jaguars assistant GM after 2021 and Ran Carthon became the Titans GM a year later. Still, the 49ers have rebounded a bit since they lost Adam Peters, Lynch’s longtime chief lieutenant who became Washington’s GM after the 2023 season.
Perhaps the reason for the back-to-back stinkers involves the lack of a first-round pick in each year and the crap-shoot nature of the draft.
Whatever the case, the official end of Moody’s tenure this week made those drafts an even bigger eyesore. After they took Moody two years ago, Lynch admitted the response in their draft room was muted, not realizing at the time that most of their 18 picks in a two-draft span wouldn’t merit even tepid cheers.
“There wasn’t the applause that we got when we took Ji’Ayir Brown in our own room, but I think everyone knows it’s necessary,” Lynch said of selecting Moody. “And everyone feels really good about this kid.”
49ers’ Shanahan said Moody decision was obvious after kicker lost must-have quality (paywall)
“Shanahan noted that Moody had recently changed his mechanics, shortening his stride, and likened it to a golfer tinkering with their swing.
“When your stroke in golf is changing all the time and you’re trying to fix things, trying to try not to miss, it’s very hard to succeed at this level that way,” Shanahan said.
In February, general manager John Lynch attributed Moody’s struggles in the second half of the 2024 season to a high ankle sprain he suffered that caused him to miss three games. Lynch said he had regrets about Moody being activated from injured reserve too early.
“We maybe kick ourselves for letting him come back,” Lynch said.
However, Moody’s change to his stroke this offseason made it clear he thought there were other reasons for why he made just 11 of 20 attempts in the nine games after his return. In training camp, Moody said he changed to a two-step approach to achieve more accuracy while sacrificing some distance.“
