San Francisco 49ers‘ starter Brock Purdy sustained a turf toe injury and a shoulder injury in the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.
So, this opened the door for his backup, Mac Jones, to take the position under center against the New Orleans Saints in Week 2. He wasn’t great. But he delivered more than anyone anticipated.
279 yards for three touchdowns and hit almost 67 percent of his passes. But even after a solid performance from Jones, his fate as the starter QB is still in jeopardy.
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49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan recently revealed on The Sports Leader podcast the plan he has for Jones.
“It’s nice to have a backup that you have a lot of confidence in, and that can play at a high level. But it really has no difference,” Shanahan replied when asked if Jones’ solid performance makes any decision easier for the front desk to consider him as QB1.
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“So, I mean, if Brock can go and protect himself and the trainers say that they don’t think it’s a risk and Brock feels confident to perform, then it doesn’t matter at all to me what the backup does-you’d go with Brock.”
With such bold and blunt statements, it appears that though the backup stepped in and shone, the coach’s heart still beats for the original. This is the most confident Shanahan has ever been in a quarterback since joining the 49ers.
The funny part is it happened with a quarterback he never even planned on. The 49ers picked Purdy with the very last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, labeling him as the Mr. Irrelevant. And now, it’s a rather funny memory because of Brock’s $265 million contract.
However, this should not be held against Jones. While Purdy remains the team’s favored starter, coach Shanahan isn’t hesitant to praise Jones for his contribution.
“I thought Mac played really well,” Shanahan said after the game. “We had a number of things we had to change up. Thought he handled the situation well, thought he delivered the ball really well. Obviously, would like to have that fumble back, hopefully we can get rid of it a little earlier. But yeah, I thought he did a hell of a job,” Shanahan said after the game against the Saints.
Meanwhile, it’s obvious why Shanahan and the front office are looking forward to Purdy’s comeback. After all, they went all-in trusting him in the offseason, handing him that kind of a deal.
Major injury update on Brock Purdy
A few starters have been limited this week, but some players are showing good progress. One of them remains Brock Purdy.
On Friday, Shanahan said that he is “highly unlikely” to feature in week 3, but Purdy expressed optimism about his progress.
“It’s been a day-to-day thing this week, and I feel like I’m happy with the progress that I’ve been making with my foot and toe,” Purdy said. “So more than anything, it’s just going to be a day-to-day thing on how I feel.”
Coach Shanahan also cleared the air about his week three endeavors. “Yeah, a lot of progress. I thought he had a good week. Hopefully we can get him up for the game. Just see how he does tomorrow. Just talking to him, I think it’s highly unlikely that he’ll start. But just trying to see where he’s at to see if he could be a two or an emergency three (quarterback).”
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With Purdy still out, possibly for another week, Jones has a chance to show the league why the 49ers should have drafted him in the first round.
For now, as many say, the main thing is that he uses this opportunity to keep improving and proving himself as a starter.