It’s the shortest football week of the season for the 49ers. Thursday night is a game which could clinch San Francisco and NFC West title at the earliest point in the season since 2011.
But Brock Purdy’s status is uncertain. He sustained an oblique injury on the second drive of the game when he scrambled and dove for a would-be first down that was called back for a hold on Trent Williams.
Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday it’s a matter of functionality when asked if playing through it could exacerbate the injury.
“No, it’s just can he play with it? If he plays, he won’t be able to make it worse,” Shanahan said.
Purdy told reporters he felt “pretty good,” but that he hadn’t tried to throw a football yet. The 49ers will have a late Tuesday practice that’s essentially just a walkthrough.
Purdy, along with Arik Armstead (foot/ankle), Christian McCaffrey (knee), Kerry Hyder Jr. (ankle) and Ambry Thomas (ankle) will all be considered limited.
The rookie quarterback’s self-assessment indicated that the severity of the injury was fairly low, when asked how he felt after the game.
“Just sore. When I got into the treatment room, they just did some tests and stuff on me and whatnot,” Purdy said. “Yeah, it wasn’t like excruciating pain or anything like that. It’s just where I was at, just sore after a game.”
If Purdy can’t go, it’ll be on the shoulders of the 36-year-old Josh Johnson, who was with the 49ers in 2020 and signed last week in the wake of Jimmy Garoppolo’s injury. Johnson has one career win, a 16-13 victory that came in 2018 with Washington over the Jacksonville Jaguars.