Brock Purdy is fine, but when the 49ers take the practice field Thursday in preparation for the Carolina Panthers in Week 12, they’ll have a new place kicker and a different player at middle linebacker for the third time this season.
Purdy, who missed the previous six games with right turf toe, showed little signs of rust and got through a 41-22 road win over the Arizona Cardinals Sunday without reinjury, unlike his previous start on Sept. 28 against Jacksonville.
Place kicker Eddy Piñeiro and middle linebacker Tatum Bethune weren’t as fortunate. Piñeiro sustained a Grade 1 right hamstring strain and will miss an undetermined amount of time. The 49ers will hold tryouts for place kickers Tuesday and/or Wednesday.
“We’re going to bring in some guys for a workout,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Monday in a conference call with local media. “They’re working on that now.”
A Grade 1 strain is a mild overstretching of muscle fibers. Shanahan termed Piñeiro’s timeline as “week to week.”
Piñeiro has made all 22 of his field goal attempts since taking over for Jake Moody in Week 2. Strangely, he has failed four of 22 extra point attempts, two of which were blocked. He had a miss and a block against Arizona.
Shanahan compared the comfort level with Piñeiro to that of Robbie Gould, who was 72-for-75 over the 2017-18 seasons on field goal attempts and never missed one in the postseason with the 49ers.
“Eddy’s given that same feeling and he’s been awesome so far,” Shanahan said. “We’re pumped up to get him on the Niners.”
Bethune was done atter 24 snaps with a high ankle sprain and although he probably isn’t headed for injured reserve, veteran Curtis Robinson will assume the role that first belonged to Fred Warner and then Bethune. Bethune started the last five games after Warner was lost for the season with a broken ankle and his 67 tackles are second on the 49ers to Dee Winters’ 77.
Robinson, 27, was lost to a torn ACL last season. He played a career high 54 snaps against Arizona plus his usual special teams load (13 snaps) and led the 49ers with 11 tackles.
“I thought he did a real good job,” Shanahan said. “Curtis has been preparing for that opportunity for awhile, especially coming back from that ACL. He did a hell of a job.”
Another potential “mike” linebacker, Jalen Graham, is on the practice squad, and the 49er could add another to the practice squad if he’s promoted.
Purdy, who was 19 of 26 for 200 yards and three touchdowns, had one awkward moment that seemed to put his right toe at risk when he was tackled from behind while running to his right, but Shanahan said he was never concerned.
“I never did have that feeling throughout the game,” Shanahan said. “He gave us a ton of confidence last week with how he’s looked in practice.”
Notable
— The 49ers will not open up the practice window for wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (ACL, MCL rehab). Wide receiver/return specialist Jacob Cowing (hamstring) probably won’t be practicing until after the 49ers’ bye week (the weekend of Dec. 7).
“Brandon is week to week,” Shanahan said. “With a big injury like that, just waiting until he’s fully comfortable to start practicing.”
— Despite the gaudy passing numbers put up by Jacoby Brissett of Arizona (47-for-57, 452 yards, two touchdowns), Shanahan felt good about the 49ers’ defensive performance. Malik Mustapha and Deommodore Lenoir had interceptions that directly led to 10 points.
“I was real proud of our defense,” Shanahan said.”We played a lot of soft zone and wanted to make them work for it to get down the field. I thought our guys grinded . . . the yardage does suck but sometimes that’s how games play out. With the turnovers we got and how they played throughout the game, I thought the defense was really, really good.”
Kittle on Collins
Tight end George Kittle said he is zeroing in on new players to watch on defense since the loss of his favorites, Nick Bosa and Fred Warner.
One of them is rookie defensive Alfred Collins, who Kittle first mistakenly identified as “Alfred Morris” a former running back who spent the 2018 season with the 49ers and gained 428 yards.
“Alfred has stood out for me because of his constant effort, no matter where the ball is, he’s chasing it down, and I really appreciate that from a young player,” Kittle said.
SNAP JUDGEMENTS
A look at who played and how much in the 49ers’ win over the Arizona Cardinals:
71: Cornerback Renardo Green played the highest percentage of the 79 defensive snaps (90 percent), coming out when being chastised by Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for being baited into a personal foul.
54: Curtis Robinson’s defensive snap count was a career high, surpassing the 45 he had against Denver in 2021. He led the 49ers with 11 tackles (five unassisted) and also played 13 snaps on special teams.
53: Given the one-sided nature of the game, no 49ers played every snap on either offense or defense. Guard Dominick Puni played the highest percentage at 96 percent (53 of 55).
41: Ricky Pearsall Jr. was targeted three times in his return to the field, catching one pass for zero yards. Upton Stout had the same number of snaps defensively, leaving briefly with a stinger. Pearsall broke free with a sweet inside move on a red zone play, but Purdy was under pressure and couldn’t get the ball to him.
“He looked good,” Shanahan said of Pearsall. “You couldn’t tell if there was any rust or anything like that.”
Regarding Stout, Shanahan said, “I’ve seen him battling through this whole year and doing a lot of good things. He competes in the run game as much as anyone on our team and I love how he runs and hit out there.”
39: Safety Jason Pinnock got in his most work since the first game against the Rams after playing 42 defensive snaps in the previous five games combined.
30: Spencer Burford started at left guard and rotated with Ben Bartch, who also got 30 snaps.
19: Darrell Luter Jr., who would have gone into the starting lineup if Lenoir didn’t play, divided his snaps equally between defense and special teams with 19 each.
14: Third-round draft pick Nick Martin got his first work on defense. He and Luke Gifford foiled a two-point conversion attempt on an outside running play.
13: With Pearsall returning, Kendrick Bourne had his lowest snap count since rejoining the 49ers. The previous low was 35 in Week 2 against New Orleans, the week he signed.
7: Robert Beal Jr. was lost to a concussion in a game where he was active over Clelin Ferrell and slated to see a lot of action at defensive end
5: Backup quarterback Mac Jones stepped aside gracefully for Purdy and took the last five snaps as the 49ers killed the clock on an important win. Left tackle Austen Pleasants got five snaps when Trent Williams got a late break.