49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s return to the starting role might be brief.
Purdy re-injured his toe in San Francisco’s 26-21 loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, leaving his availability up in the air on a short week, head coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday.
The 49ers (3-1) are set to visit the Los Angeles Rams (3-1) on Thursday night, a critical early test in the tightly packed NFC West.
Purdy played in the 26-21 defeat on Sunday afternoon and told reporters afterward that he felt fine. But Shanahan said Monday morning that Purdy had called him on Sunday night and said the injury, a form of turf toe, again was bothering him.
The quarterback is expected to be evaluated on Monday afternoon, Shanahan said.
“Hopefully, we’ll find out more later today, but any time guys are sore and hurting on a Monday, you usually don’t stress too much about it,” Shanahan said. “But anytime you have a Thursday game, it’s a totally different element. So, I’m concerned with anybody who’s not totally healthy at this moment, but we’ll have to get more information on that later today to really have a clue of what to speculate.”
Purdy was injured during the season-opening 17-13 road victory over the Seattle Seahawks. He passed for 277 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
The 25-year-old sat out wins over the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals to rest his foot.
His replacement, Mac Jones, sustained a knee sprain and was limited in practice last week. Purdy went from limited early in the week to being cleared to play against Jacksonville.
Purdy was 22-of-38 passing for 309 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions and also lost a fumble. He said the toe wasn’t an issue, but Purdy acknowledged that his mechanics might have been off, resulting in a few high throws.
“I think just getting back out there and throwing and getting into a rhythm, being down two weeks, coming back and feeling out my body and everything, obviously how my toe feels,” he said.
“Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” he said of the toe injury’s impact. “But, obviously, I’m going to watch this film, look at my mechanics and be real with myself and try to fix that.”
Purdy is a combined 48 of 73 (65.8 percent) for 586 yards, four TDs and four interceptions with a 78.8 quarterback rating in his two games. For his career, he is a 67.5-percent passer, with 10,104 yards, 68 TDs and 31 picks in 42 regular-season games (38 starts) and a 24-14 record.
Shanahan also said that wide receiver Ricky Pearsall could miss the next game with an ailing right knee. He was hurt attempting to make a catch in bounds and left the game early on Sunday.
“I was testing out my knee,” Pearsall said. “I fell pretty hard on that play on the sideline, trying to keep my feet in bounds, and I fell pretty hard on my knee. I was just feeling pain and a little bit of instability. I wasn’t trying to mess with it.”
Shanahan does not think that Pearsall has a long-term injury from the initial evaluation but pointed to a possible sprain.
“They’re thinking more of a minor PCL or something like that is what our guess is, just landing on it hard,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. Obviously, a huge concern with the Thursday night game and stuff, but we’re not expecting it to be too bad.”
Pearsall, 25, has 20 receptions on 29 targets for 327 yards in starting all four games.
San Francisco wide receiver Jauan Jennings injured his ribs on Sunday in his return to the lineup from injury. He also will be further evaluated on Monday.
Jennings, 28, has played in three games this season — all starts — and has nine catches on 19 targets for 129 yards and one touchdown. He missed the Week 3 win over Arizona because of ankle and shoulder issues.
