San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan seemingly settled the hotly debated topic of who the team’s starting quarterback will be.
Despite how well backup QB Mac Jones has played, Shanahan indicated that the starting QB job is Brock Purdy’s whenever he’s fully healthy.
“[It wasn’t] a hard decision,” Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s just more about Brock’s health. It’s been awesome how Mac has played. He has been great. But we’ve got a lot of confidence in Brock and we know Brock will play at a high level too as long as he’s healthy.”
The 49ers have been without $265 million star Brock Purdy for eight of their 10 games this season, but fortunately for them, Mac Jones has filled in quite admirably.
The 27-year-old Jones has gone 5-3 as San Francisco’s starter, throwing for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions with a passer rating of 97.4 all while keeping the 49ers alive in the NFC playoff picture.
The team is just one game behind the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks, who are tied for the NFC West lead, and San Francisco is just a half-game out of a playoff spot as well.
Purdy’s Injury Status Gets Major Update
After leading the 49ers to a 17-13 win over the Seahawks in Week 1, Purdy missed the next two games with a turf toe injury. He returned in Week 4’s 26-21 defeat to the Jacksonville Jaguars and been sidelined ever since.
Though he missed the last six games, Purdy was reportedly fine enough to play last week against the Rams but Shanahan held him out just to be safe.
After a few strong days of practice this week, Shanahan decided it was finally time to turn Purdy loose in Week 11 against the division rival Arizona Cardinals.
“That’s why we were really close to getting him up last week, but still thought it would help him for another week, and so did he,” Shanahan said. “The way he was Monday, just watching him film with him, the way he was at Wednesday’s practice.
“And really (today) was the best. We were going full speed and everything. So he’s good to go, and it’s good to get him back.”
Purdy’s injury hasn’t affected his throwing at all. But as he told reporters on Thursday, the turf toe injury severely hampered his ability to scramble, which is his bread and butter.
“Dropping back and throwing, that’s been pretty good for a while,” Purdy said. “But to play quarterback in the NFL and to play like myself, I need to move a little bit. I wasn’t able to get there for a while. Now I feel ready to go.”
49ers Are in a Good Spot Playoff-Wise
With Purdy set to return, the 49ers could make up some serious ground in the playoff race.
In Weeks 11-14, San Francisco plays the Cardinals, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, and Tennessee Titans, who have a combined record of 11-26. Only the Panthers, who are 5-5, have a record close to .500 or a shot at potentially sneaking into the postseason.
Conversely, the Rams have tough back-to-back matchups against the Seahawks (7-2) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) over the next two weeks, and they have another game against Seattle and the Detroit Lions (6-3) in two of the final four weeks of the season.
The Seahawks get the Rams twice and the Indianapolis Colts before finishing up the season against the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium.
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