So, are the 49ers cooked already?
Heck of a question one week into an 18-week season.
Even more wacky considering they won the opener at dastardly Seattle, in thrilling last-minute fashion.
But hard questions must be asked, considering the greatest tight end in franchise history is on injured reserve and the $53 million-per-year quarterback is out “two to five weeks”, if you believe NFL Network, or “week to week”, if you believe John Lynch.
The easy answer is: No, the Niners are not cooked. George Kittle will be back, and so will Brock Purdy.
We think.
Hamstrings are funky things, but Kittle resting until an Oct. 12 home game vs. Tampa Bay should be enough time for a guy who will turn 32 on Oct. 9 to heal up and help out the last 12 games. Right?
Right?
As for Purdy, missing a road game at New Orleans is bad enough, but also possibly missing the home opener vs. an always-troublesome Arizona team means a divisional game could go by without QB1.
And then there’s the whole ugly question rising up: Is Brock Purdy injury-prone?
You hate to even ask it.
Early answer is — no, Purdy is not chronically injured enough to declare him injury prone. The facts of the case are:
— He got knocked out of the 2022 season NFC Championship game after making five consecutive starts to finish the season in place of Jimmy Garoppolo, and two playoff wins before the game at Philadelphia.
— He made 16 of 17 starts in 2023 and took the 49ers to the Super Bowl.
— He made 15 of 17 starts in 2024, missing a game at Green Bay and the meaningless season finale at Arizona.
So it’s too early to slap the “you can’t make the club, in the tub” label on 25-year-old Brock Purdy.
That said, the 49ers are trying to win the NFC West this year and losing the QB for any games this early in the season sets off some alarm bells. There is a theory that Purdy’s toe injury — suffered on a scramble when he was flushed from the pocket — and his lesser shoulder injury are partially a result of an offensive line that isn’t stout enough to protect a major investment. This theory shall be put to the test in the coming weeks when Purdy returns.
It will even be put to the test this Sunday in the Crescent City, where an active Saints pass rush will try to tee off on Mac Jones. The Superdome can be loud and weird, and the artificial turf down there has not been mistaken for a Ritz-Carlton mattress with sheets made of Egyptian cotton.
Jones is the last man standing between the 49ers and a spin-out early in the schedule.
We should spend a quick moment on Mac Jones, and note the strange comedy afoot. The man the world expected to be Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s pick with the No. 3 slot in the 2021 NFL Draft was not Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch’s pick with the No. 3 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Four and a half years later, we are all older and Mac Jones is finally QB1 of the 49ers.
Life comes at you slow sometimes, as I was just saying my good pal Trey Lance down at Charger headquarters.
Can Jones win in New Orleans, thus making the 49ers 2-0, and thus avoiding the “49ers are cooked” storyline in Week Two? Sure he can. You’d think he’s the kind of guy who can run Shanahan’s system of timing and reads as good as anyone, and not stray from the script.
It’s just that he doesn’t have George Kittle to throw to. That’s part of the problem, which is why we are asking such heavy questions to begin with.
Oof. It’s awful early to get so deep. On to the Big Easy. Drama awaits.
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