The San Francisco 49ers have seen several key starters bitten by the injury bug, and the 2025 NFL season has only just begun. While George Kittle has joined the long list of injured pass catchers following his hamstring injury diagnosis, the man in charge in the huddle could be heading to the shelf as well after missing practice on Wednesday.
According to Niners head coach Kyle Shanahan (h/t @AdamSchefter), starting quarterback Brock Purdy is a "long shot" for Sunday's matchup against the New Orleans Saints as he is dealing with an injury to his left shoulder, along with an issue with one of his toes.
Mac Jones in Line to Start for 49ers in Week 2 After Brock Purdy Injury Update
Should Purdy not be able to go, offseason acquisition Mac Jones will be the next man up. While this is never the situation a team wants to find itself in this early in the season, Jones was signed by San Francisco to provide insurance for this exact scenario.
If there were any silver lining to the update provided on Wednesday, it would be that the toe issue is considered to be more of a problem than the shoulder issue, as that is impacting his non-throwing arm. Regardless of that, Shanahan likely wishes he weren't losing his starting quarterback for any time at all, let alone the potential for it being a multiple-week absence.
Given that Purdy did not look his best in the Niners' 17-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks, the veteran signal-caller certainly wants to be back on the gridiron with his teammates this Sunday to prove he is worth the massive extension he signed this summer. Sometimes, coaches need to protect players from themselves, though. This seems like one of those instances.
While an injury limited him to just two appearances during the preseason, Jones opened the eyes of the coaching staff with his play during training camp. Now that he is likely going to be pressed into duty, Shanahan hopes to see more of what brought on this praise in early August.
"Mac's doing a good job," Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49ersWebZone.com. "We've really liked what we've seen from him so far. We had an idea of what we hoped he'd be like, and he's been exactly that. He's been playing really well, and hopefully, he'll continue that."
Whether it is for one week or multiple weeks, as Shanahan suggested could be the case, Jones is going to get his chance to show the football world that he is still the same talent that made him a first-round pick following his career at Alabama.