SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As the San Francisco 49ers began preparation Wednesday for their Week 2 meeting with the New Orleans Saints, they did so with the expectation that quarterback Brock Purdy won’t be available to play.
Purdy is dealing with toe and left shoulder injuries that happened in the second quarter of Sunday’s win against the Seattle Seahawks. Coach Kyle Shanahan has indicated that the toe is the bigger concern and said Wednesday that it’s unlikely Purdy will play against the Saints.
“I think it’s a long shot,” Shanahan said.
Asked whether Purdy might miss multiple games as he recovers from the ailments, Shanahan didn’t rule it out.
“It’s possible,” Shanahan said.
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Purdy’s addition to the injury report came as a bit of a surprise Monday after he finished the game against Seattle by leading the winning touchdown drive and wasn’t mentioned by Shanahan in the postgame injury report. Purdy was 26-of-35 for 277 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Shanahan said Purdy injured the toe while scrambling for 7 yards with about two minutes left in the first half. On the play, Purdy took off to his left and was tackled as he fell toward the sideline by Seahawks safety Julian Love.
Purdy didn’t show any signs of being seriously hurt, though Shanahan said he was aware of what the quarterback was dealing with during the game.
On Wednesday, Purdy was listed as a nonparticipant in practice, leaving Mac Jones to handle the starting quarterback duties. Jones signed as a free agent from the Jacksonville Jaguars in March and is coming off a solid training camp in which he impressed teammates with his consistent production.
“I like Mac a lot,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “Getting to know him this camp, and I think he’s really popped on tape throughout camp. If Mac does start, I think it’s a little more advantageous for him being earlier in the year since he’s gotten some real reps recently, and he’s not 10 weeks into the season taking only scout team [snaps], getting pinballed around by the D-line and scout team. I think that’s a bright side.”
According to Shanahan, the 49ers would also like to bring in another quarterback to provide depth behind Jones if Purdy can’t play. The Niners have Adrian Martinez on the practice squad and tried out veteran signal-caller Mike White on Wednesday.
The hurdle for San Francisco is the number of injuries it’s dealing with elsewhere that make any roster moves more difficult to pull off.
“We’d like to [add another quarterback],” Shanahan said. “We just don’t know if we can.”
Beyond Purdy, the Niners have plenty of other moving parts this week. Running back Christian McCaffrey (calf/veteran rest day), left tackle Trent Williams (knee/vet day), Bosa (vet day), defensive lineman Yetur Gross-Matos (knee) and receiver Jauan Jennings (shoulder) also did not participate in Wednesday’s practice.
Jennings’ situation might be the most tenuous of those players after he departed Sunday’s game with the shoulder issue and did not return. Testing and imaging on Jennings’ injured shoulder didn’t reveal any significant damage, though, and Shanahan said there is still hope he’ll be able to play against the Saints.
“He’s got a chance to play and hopefully he will,” Shanahan said.
