The San Francisco 49ers are taking on the Arizona Cardinals in Week 3 for the home opener, looking to start 3-0 after wins over the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints.
However, they’ll have to do so without some key starters as both Jauan Jennings and Brock Purdy are not expected to play against the Cardinals, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
Jennings, who was dealing with shoulder and ankle injuries, did not practice at all this week, but was considered questionable for the game. Last week, while dealing with the shoulder injury, Jennings did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but was limited on Friday. He ultimately played in the game and caught five passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.
Preparing for Jennings to miss the game, the 49ers elevated wide receiver Malik Turner from the practice squad on Saturday as a standard elevation. Now, the wide receiver room for Sunday includes Ricky Pearsall, Kendrick Bourne, Marques Valdez-Scanting, Skyy Moore, and Malik Turner, with Jennings likely inactive.
In addition, the 49ers will likely be without quarterback Brock Purdy. San Francisco was not expecting Purdy to start on Sunday, but head coach Kyle Shanahan said there was a chance he could be the No. 2 quarterback.
San Francisco elevated quarterback Adrian Martinez from the practice squad. But, because they did not promote him to the active roster, Purdy was not allowed to be the emergency 3rd quarterback. With the call-up for Martinez, he will now be the QB2 on Sunday, while Purdy is inactive.
The 49ers will have one less inactive than needed on Sunday because they currently only have 52 players on their 53-man roster after placing Spencer Burford on Injured Reserve. Two of those inactives are now expected to be Jennings and Purdy.
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