The wait seems to be over.
After six weeks of patiently waiting for Brock Purdy to recover from a second turf toe injury, it seems the 49ers plan to start him this upcoming Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals. In fact, Purdy was healthy enough to play this past Sunday in the 49ers’ 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
“He could have gone, definitely,” Shanahan said after getting blown at home by a division rival. “I just decided to hold him and not put him in that situation.”
It sounds like Shanahan didn’t want Purdy to lose to the Rams, especially after Mac Jones had just beaten the Giants. Benching Jones after a win, only for Purdy to lose his first start back from injury, would be a bad look for Purdy, Shanahan, and the entire 49ers organization. So, they waited for Jones to lose.
Now, the 49ers can go back to Purdy without protest from fans.
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It also helps that this week the 49ers will face the Arizona Cardinals, who are not a good team. The 49ers should be expected to beat them no matter which quarterback plays.
Unfortunately for Purdy, Jones is coming off one of the best games of his career. Against the Rams, he completed 85 percent of his passes, he took zero sacks, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio was a terrific 3-to-1. And he did this without Ricky Pearsall while facing one of the best pass rushes in the entire NFL.
So, sure, if Purdy plays against the Cardinals on Sunday, and it appears that he will, he’ll probably win. But it will be extremely difficult for him to play better than Jones has been playing this season, considering Jones is rolling, and Purdy is rusty, plus he’s not 100 percent healthy, even if he’s close. He won’t be 100 percent healthy for the rest of the season according to Shanahan.
I think it’s a shame that Jones saved the 49ers’ season and played like a top-10 quarterback just to get benched for Purdy right when the schedule gets easy. If both Jones and Purdy were getting paid the same amount of money, I bet the 49ers would stick with the hot hand.
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But the 49ers gave Purdy a five-year, $265 million contract this offseason, so they have to back to him eventually, even if he doesn’t give them the best chance to win.
You’ve got to love roster politics.