San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a toe injury against the Seattle Seahawks, and his status for Week 2’s matchup against the New Orleans Saints is uncertain. Purdy also has a left shoulder injury, but Shanahan said Purdy’s toe injury is more severe. Shanahan said the team will see how the practice week goes: “Not sure, has to see how it heals and how the week goes on it.”
More evaluations are coming for Purdy. Shanahan did not rule out the 49ers adding another quarterback this week. Besides Mac Jones, Adrian Martinez is the only other quarterback in the building. Adding another quarterback hinges on how Purdy’s injuries progress in the coming days.
Jones would start if Purdy can’t go. Shanahan said that he’s comfortable with how Mac Jones has been progressing and learning the offense.
Tight end George Kittle will miss multiple weeks with a hamstring injury. Kittle didn’t return after running a vertical route early in the game against the Seattle Seahawks. Kittle could miss anywhere from 3-5 weeks, which means he might be headed to the Injured Reserve List. “In order to do that, it’s got to be a four-week injury, and we haven’t decided on that yet,” Shanahan said.
Jake Tonges filled in admirably without Kittle. But we saw on the first drive how effective Kittle can be on third down and in the red zone. That’ll be a brutal loss as the Niners play two divisional opponents during the next month.
Week 5 is a short week against the Los Angeles Rams. That should be the target date for Kittle, if he’s healthy enough. That’s October 2. But if the Niners want to be safe, a mini bye after that happens. They won’t play against until October 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The MRI on Jauan Jennings’ shoulder came back clean, although the Niners await his CT scan. That’s good news, though, as it sounds like Jennings avoided the worst-case scenario. Shanahan said Jennings has a chance to play in Week 2.
Starting left guard Ben Bartch has a sprained knee and is day-to-day. He has a lengthy injury history, which is a concern since he’s already appearing on the injury report.
Shanahan was unsure about the direction the team would go at kicker. It’s a topic of conversation in the building. The 49ers are keeping all of their options open regarding Jake Moody, who missed a kick and had another kick blocked in Week 1.
“I haven’t had (that conversation) with (Moody) yet. … Whenever we decide on something, we’ll address it with him.”
I think it’s safe to say we can expect the team to bring in multiple kickers for tryouts this week.
About the Author: Insidethe49
