SANTA CLARA – Injuries will sideline a slew of 49ers and Buccaneers when these wounded NFC powers meet Sunday at Tampa Bay’s Raymond James Stadium.
Quarterback Mac Jones, however, looks able to gut out a fourth start in place of Brock Purdy.
With Purdy officially out a fourth game this season, coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday he is “pretty much” banking on Jones playing, adding that Jones is questionable because “you have to put it that way if there’s any doubt at all.”
A day after Jones did not throw in 49ers practice, he was targeting receivers with pinpoint accuracy in red zone drills Friday, only a couple of hours before the 49ers’ flight. Jones has battled a knee issue for two months, and he strained an oblique late in last Thursday’s overtime win at the Los Angeles Rams.
On a side field, Purdy worked with the strength and conditioning staff as he recovers from a toe injury he aggravated in the Sept. 28 loss to Jacksonville, after missing the previous two games. He did not travel last game, nor did fellow injured players such as tight end George Kittle and wide receivers Ricky Pearsall and Jauan Jennings.
OTHER INJURY UPDATES
Like Purdy, Pearsall (right knee) also did individual conditioning Friday on the side field as he’s out a second straight game. Jennings’ ability to practice a second straight day has him questionable for a return, having sustained a Sept. 28 rib injury that kept him out last game.
Also questionable is Alfred Collins, a late-game hero last game who practiced a second straight day with a brace on his right knee. Defensive tackles Kalia Davis and C.J. West each worked with a casted hand.
Also out are wide receiver Jordan Watkins (calf) and defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring).
Safety Malik Mustapha is questionable as he could be activated off Injured Reserve on Saturday; defensive tackle Kevin Givens is out and will not come off IR, yet.
BUCS INJURY LIST
The Buccaneers may have an MVP candidate in quarterback Baker Mayfield, but they have ruled out two premier wide receivers in Mike Evans (hamstring) and Chris Godwin (fibula), two running backs in Bucky Irving (shoulder, foot) and Josh Williams (concussion), and two cornerbacks in Zyon McCollumn (thumb) and Benjamin Morrison (hamstring).
Coach Todd Bowles told Tampa reporters Friday: “You can never fill a void by Mike and Chris but other guys have things they do well to make this team. We have to make sure we enhance those abilities and call the right plays from that aspect.”
BACKUP PLAN
In an ordinary press release Friday, the United Football League listed 15 alumni on NFL rosters this week, including one quarterback who happened to be last year’s UFL MVP: Adrian Martinez. His bio noted how he “led the UFL in rushing with 528 yards and ranked third with 1,749 passing yards. His All-UFL team performance helped the Birmingham Stallions win their third consecutive championship.”
Martinez was elevated from the practice squad as a backup to Jones for the Weeks 2 and 3 wins while Purdy was out. Last Thursday, Martinez again was the backup but only after getting promoted to the 53-man roster; practice-squad players can only be temporarily elevated three times in a season.
Kurtis Rourke, a seventh-round draft pick, could have his practice window open soon as he recovers from knee reconstruction.
Martinez, 25, was born in the Central Valley town of Hanford, attended Clovis West High, then bounced from Nebraska to Kansas State before going undrafted in 2023. He was in the Detroit Lions’ 2023 offseason and training camp, then resurfaced in the UFL in the spring of 2024. The Jets, and then-coach Robert Saleh, brought him onto their 2024 practice squad, and the 49ers signed him to their practice squad this past Aug. 27 once the Jets waived him a couple days earlier.