Mac Jones in the 49ers’ starting lineup against the Cardinals
Unless a last-minute change occurs, the San Francisco 49ers will have Mac Jones as their starting quarterback for the second consecutive week in the matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. Starting quarterback Brock Purdy is questionable for Sunday due to a toe injury that kept him out of last week’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Although Purdy participated in limited fashion in practice during all three days of the week and, according to coach Kyle Shanahan, “made a lot of progress” in his recovery, Shanahan is not optimistic about Purdy’s chances of starting against Arizona.Shanahan indicated that the decision on whether Purdy will be in uniform as Jones’ backup will depend on how Purdy feels in the next 48 hours. The Niners will evaluate Purdy’s situation on Saturday and then must make roster decisions to determine if Purdy can be Jones’ primary backup or if they will have to promote practice squad quarterback Adrian Martinez again to be Jones’ primary backup. According to Shanahan, league rules state that if the Niners want Purdy to be the third emergency quarterback, the second quarterback (in this case, Martinez) would have to be promoted to the active roster and could not simply be a standard elevation that returns to the practice squad on Monday. This decision could be further complicated due to injuries on the 49ers’ offensive line. Rookie Connor Colby was expected to start at left guard in place of Ben Bartch (ankle), who was placed on injured reserve this week, but Colby suffered a groin injury in Thursday’s practice. Colby is questionable for the game against the Cardinals, while Spencer Burford, another standout substitute on the offensive line, is ruled out due to a knee injury which, according to Shanahan, could require surgery. Shanahan indicated that the Niners still need to see certain things from Purdy in the coming days before he can be considered as a backup, as they don’t want to risk further injury. Shanahan commented that Purdy will also have a say in how things develop, as he has shown that he will be open about how he feels in situations like this.I think it’s very unlikely that he will be a starter.
Kyle Shanahan
For his part, Purdy said on Thursday that he wants to play, but that he also doesn’t want to jeopardize more games after this week.Brock works as hard as anyone I’ve been around, but he’s very sensible in terms of being realistic.
Kyle Shanahan
I want to play every game. I want to be out there. You only have 17 regular season games, and every game matters, especially a divisional [game] against the Cardinals. If you ask me, I’d love to, but I’m trying to be smart with my body here.
Brock Purdy
Although Purdy participated in the practices throughout the week, there were many signs that Jones was ready to start for the second consecutive week. Jones was the first in all individual drills during the parts of the training in which the media could be present and received praise from his teammates and coaches for his performance against the Saints.
In that game, Jones threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, allowing the 49ers to improve their record to 2-0. That performance came after a slow start in which Jones said he was dealing with some nerves. Getting off to a better start is one of Jones’s top priorities this week, he said.In addition to Purdy and Colby, the Niners have wide receiver Jauan Jennings (ankle, shoulder) as questionable. Jennings did not practice this week after playing through injuries against the Saints. Rookie wide receiver Jordan Watkins joins Burford on the list of players the Niners have ruled out this week. Watkins suffered a calf injury in Thursday’s practice and is a candidate for injured reserve, according to Shanahan.I definitely saw it and learned from it and took all the training points and then I’ve worked hard in the training sessions to learn from the things I didn’t do so well and just improve on them. I think the guys have done it and we’ve definitely moved on from that game. We’re really focused on the Cardinals and putting in another good performance and carrying good momentum this week.
Mac Jones
