Kyle Shanahan: Brock Purdy cleared to throw with no restrictions moving forward

After Sunday’s preseason loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, there aren’t many bright spots for the 49ers. Except that Brock Purdy is fully back, according to Kyle Shanahan.

The San Francisco 49ers head coach announced Monday that Purdy will practice with the team all three days this week. This marks the first time the second-year QB has been cleared to throw with no restrictions since undergoing UCL surgery. Previously, Purdy would practice for two days, before taking the third day off.

Moving forward, that won’t be the case, with Purdy now in full command of the QB1 job.

“Yeah, that’s off. So he’ll get to go three practices in a row this week,” Kyle Shanahan said about Purdy, via conference call Monday.

#49ers QB Brock Purdy is now fully cleared from his March elbow surgery. Beginning this week, he will no longer have a built in day off and he can go three straight practices this week.

— Nick Wagoner (@nwagoner) August 14, 2023

Aside from Purdy, Shanahan’s Monday conference call featured more reflection on the team’s loss Sunday, including the play of Trey Lance.

Lance had a rough return to the field, getting sacked four times and almost throwing two picks in the first half of Sunday’s game. While all of the mistakes weren’t his fault, Shanahan hopes that the QB can grow from his performance heading into Week 2 of the preseason.

“I thought he played a lot better as [the first half] ended. He came out, first play was tough,” Kyle Shanahan explained. “Another sack on the third and eight wasn’t his fault…But the two ones after that, I thought he could have gotten rid of it a little before the sack…Ended up doing some good things, so, wish we would have converted that short yardage, kept him out there a little bit longer…”

Other starters on Sunday also struggled, including rookie kicker Jake Moody.

The 49ers’ third-round pick missed two field goals Sunday, including one from only 40 yards out. Hitting booming kicks in Santa Clara, Sunday’s performance was a bit of a surprise to many, but Shanahan isn’t too concerned at the moment.

“What’s been cool is how good he’s been at those in practice,” Shanahan said about the rookie kicker. “But he definitely missed a tough one in the game. The 40-yard one is one that he’s been great at in practice. He missed it, obviously, but I’m not going to go there and try to ask him a bunch of questions…Because sometimes guys miss. I think he’ll be much better next time.”

The head coach also mentioned that both Moody and fellow kicker Zane Gonzalez will see time next Saturday against the Denver Broncos.

Additionally, San Francisco received some good and bad news on the injury front.

On the one hand, several players, including running back Elijah Mitchell, are expected to return to practice this week. On the other hand, several players are expected to remain off the field for the duration of the preseason. One of those players is linebacker Oren Burks, out with a PCL injury, and safety George Odum, out with a shoulder strain.

The real bright spot of the weekend was not losing any additional bodies in the game, a sight for sore eyes in the Bay Area.

“Yes, very bright spot of the week. That’s usually the No.1 goal in preseason games,” Shanahan added.

The 49ers will see these players return to practice this week:

DE Robert Beal Jr.
DT Kalia Davis
LB Dre Greenlaw
WR Danny Gray
DE Drake Jackson
RB Elijah Mitchell

George Kittle is expected back next week

— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) August 14, 2023

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