Brock Purdy expected to return for 49ers vs. Bills

Nov 29, 2024, 3:57 PM | Updated: 3:58 pm

Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates a win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln...

(Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Lead Editor & Kings Beat Writer

The San Francisco 49ers sorely need a bounce-back win this Sunday, and quarterback Brock Purdy appears to be returning at an ideal time.

After missing last Sunday’s blowout loss in Green Bay due to a shoulder injury, Purdy fully participated in Friday’s practice as San Francisco (5-6) prepares to face a Buffalo Bills team that is coming off of its bye week and holds a record of 9-2 on the year.

Here is what 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had to say about Purdy’s status for Sunday night in Buffalo, with the quarterback also sharing comments on how he has felt during practice this week.

Unlike last Friday, Brock Purdy is throwing today. What’s more, Brandon Allen is in a scout-teamer-of-week jersey, suggesting he’s not the starter. pic.twitter.com/KQVwFjjIDA

— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) November 29, 2024

Kyle Shanahan on Brock Purdy & 49ers vs. Bills

Opening comments:

“Alright guys, injuries for the game: [OL] Aaron Banks will be out, [DL] Jordan Elliott, out, [DB] Deommodore Lenoir, out, [DL] Nick Bosa, out, [T] Trent Williams, out, [LB Dre] Greenlaw, out, [LB Demetrius] Flannigan-Fowles, questionable, [WR] Chris Conley, questionable, [DL] Kevin Givens, questionable, [CB] Renardo Green, questionable, [QB] Brock Purdy, questionable. Go ahead.”

How did Brock fair the last two practices?

“It was good. It was great to get him back out there. He was able to go fully today, so it was a good day.”

Full practice?

“Yeah.”

That would suggest that if he’s full he’s playing on Sunday?

“It would suggest that.”

Is that what you’re saying? He will play on Sunday?

“Yes. I mean, lots of things can happen between now and then, but right now he’s playing, so he’s doing good. He had a good day.”

What’s CB Charvarius Ward’s situation? Do you expect him to step in and start or play?

“Yeah, we expect him to play. He had a good week of practice. So it’s looking like he’s trending towards playing and excited to get him back out there with us.”

With Lenoir, is that a bruise? That’s not ligament damage, right? It’s just a banging of the knee and just deep bone bruise?

“Yeah, it’s kind of like a quad contusion, but it’s right on the bone, so it’s in that same area. It kind of acts like one. Tried to go all week and just couldn’t get it to go.”

How do you fill in for Banks? What’s the plan?

“We’ll see on Sunday, but one of our guys will be up playing that spot.”

What are your memories of your 2020 game against the Bills?

“Not loving the situation we were in. We were living in Arizona, living in a hotel. It wasn’t a fun time in any of our lives there. We were in a hotel, but we weren’t allowed to go outside of our room, see people or anything like that. We got to meet at practice and meet at the stadium on game day. But that wasn’t a very fun game. [Buffalo Bills QB] Josh [Allen] had a hell of a game, they played some good defense and it was a tough loss.”

With the wind, is there any thought about with Brock that he needs all that strength in his shoulder to be able to throw in that wind? Does that give you any apprehension at all?

“Well, I think everybody struggles to throw in that wind, even when you’re healthy. So it depends on how much, how fast that wind’s going. And I think that’s kind of relevant for anybody. But Brock wouldn’t be playing if he wasn’t 100-percent at it. So I think the fact that he’s going to be playing means he’s healthy.”

LB Fred Warner said he has a fracture in his ankle. He has been playing with it for like two months. Is there any concern of you might have to shut him down at some point? Looking at the numbers, I’m sure that has affected his play in some way. Is there concern it could get worse or it just won’t be able to play with it at some point?

“No, that’s why we took him off the injury report a couple months ago or whatever. He hasn’t needed to get rehab for it. Nothing’s been changed for anything in practice. Lots of guys are banged up right now, but he wouldn’t be playing if it could get worse.”

How did Greenlaw make it through the week?

“He had a real good week. It was great for him to get him back out there. It was great for us. We loved having him around, just that first week of coming off an Achilles. I think it’s so crucial for the confidence of a guy. Got a lot of scout-team reps, did a lot of individual stuff with the guys and it was great week and hopefully next week will be even better.”

I know coming into this week you guys pretty much already determined he wasn’t going to play. Are your minds open next week that potentially he could play here?

“I think they’re open to it, but also the game after that’s a Thursday night game. So I think that makes it a little harder. We’ve just got to see how he feels and stuff. But with those games being so close, that’s a problem too. I’m not going to decide at all right now. We’ll see how next week goes, but I’d say it’d be an outside chance.”

Did he show flashes where he was moving like Dre?

“Oh, yeah. When guys come back, they come back healthy. Guys come back and they can move, they’ve got fresh legs, they can go. But it’s about getting that confidence to react. They’ve been moving full-speed for a while before they come back to football, but when you come back to football it’s not really planned running and stuff. You’ve got to react and cover people and backpedal and stop on a dime and go explode forward. So, it’s more about guys just getting that confidence because it’s such a traumatic injury ripping your Achilles and stuff. He moved great, it’s just about building that stamina, building that confidence up so he’s ready to get into a football game.”

Do you have you any sense of when Trent or Bosa could return?

“No. We understand kind of what’s wrong with them, it’s just kind of how it heals. And the guys, Trent especially, hasn’t been healing the way we hoped. Hopefully they’ve got a better chance next week. But they ended up never getting back into practice this week so ended up not being that close.”

Will they stay behind?

“Yes, they will.”

All the guys who are out will stay behind?

“I believe so.”

Brock Purdy on his return vs. Buffalo

Can you kind of take us through what happened against Seattle and just what’s been going on with the shoulder?

“It was just throughout the game and all that kind of stuff. I’m not really sure when or what. But with where I’m at now, I feel good. Going into this game, I’m excited to be able to play.”

When did you turn the corner? We were out there earlier in the week and it looked like you weren’t doing much, and all of a sudden today you were. Was it yesterday or what?

“Yeah. Just throughout the week and stuff, the different things that we did in terms of like a throwing program, I started feeling good. What was that? Probably Thanksgiving, yesterday. That’s when I practiced and felt good about it. And then today I felt really good at practice too.”

Was there, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that you had to go back for a second MRI, it was like, did we miss something? Last week were there some, were you having some natural concern of like is this serious, what’s going on here?

“Yeah, I mean, anytime you go through an injury and stuff like that you want to know what’s going on with your body and how long something could be or if something’s serious or not, if you’re healthy or not. So all those things definitely ran through my mind. But glad everything was clean within the MRI and knowing that we had a plan to get ready for this week and I’m ready to go now.”

Yesterday at practice, were you able to make all the throws?

“Yeah.”

It’s got to be a relief. The weather conditions, wind that you might have to deal with in Buffalo, how important is it for you to have full arm strength ready to go?

“Oh, for sure. If I’m out there playing, which is the plan, then I’ll be able to make every throw that we have drawn up. I wouldn’t go out there playing not 100-percent. I want to go out there feeling really good and have the confidence to make every throw. So that’s the plan.”

I think you played, what, 45, 48 games in college. I don’t know if you ever missed a game. And then here you played, including playoffs, I think 37 in a row. What was it like to not be preparing to play for a week?

“Yeah, it was tough, Going into the week, I had the mindset of, ‘Alright, I’m going to see how I feel and I want to play.’ And then obviously I wasn’t able to and wasn’t ready. So for me, mentally, it was like, ‘Alright, this is different, it’s new.’ Because I’ve always been able to find a way come game time to be ready to play for my guys, both in college and the NFL. So last week was definitely new, going into it knowing that I can’t play. And then obviously supporting [QB] Brandon [Allen] and getting him ready and stuff. It was all new. But I’m glad we’re moved on, we’re healthy and ready for this one.”

When was the last time that you were not able to start a football game?

“Maybe my junior year of high school, the first three games, due to mono. I think that was the first time. Last year against the Rams, we just sat me or whatever, to stay healthy going into the playoffs. But the last time I missed because I couldn’t go was yeah, high school.”

Did you have an opportunity to kind of just take a step back and take a view of just how the season has gone? Because once the season starts, you’re just grinding, getting ready for the next opponent. Did you afford yourself that opportunity at all to just kind of see where things can go here for the final six games?

“Yeah. Last week, just sitting on the sideline against Green Bay and stuff, towards the end of the game it was like, ‘Alright, this is where we’re at and what it’s going to take moving forward and how we have to look at it one day at a time.’ So for me, it was just, it was a good reflection of just how hard the NFL is. A lot of games have come down to the last couple possessions, fourth quarter and it can either go one way or another. And so, we’ve experienced both this year and you can’t take anything for granted. So started thinking about those kinds of things and more than anything, it’s like you can’t look too far ahead in the future still. We have six games to play and all of our wants and desires and opportunity lay right in front of us. And so it’s up to us. That’s really just what I started reflecting on and where I was trying to get my mind at.”

You dove for the touchdown against the Seahawks. I think your dad has said in the past that that’s sort of your calling card, something that you’ve done your whole life. Do you have to sort of rethink that moving forward, those types of plays?

“No. Obviously I want to be smart and when you’re diving at the pylon, be smart with the ball and not have it get hit out and be a touchback or a turnover or anything like that. But that’s part of my game of being able to move around and do what it takes to get in the endzone. And I’ve done that, high school, college and then NFL. So yeah, obviously be smart, protect myself kind of thing, but that’s my competitive nature where I want to make it happen if I can and being smart about it.”

You go play a team as daunting as Buffalo without the left side of your starting offensive line. How do you process that?

“Obviously you’d love to have your guys that are starting play, but that’s the NFL and I have all the trust in the world in the guys that we have behind our starters. And so, [OL] Jaylon Moore I think has done a great job coming in and then [OL] Ben Bartch, we know he’s had history of playing as a starter in the NFL. So, that’s part of the game, guys get banged up, guys get thrown in. But with the unit that we’ve had, I think we’ve had guys that have a lot of reps and have trust in them for sure. So, just got to go out and compete and get it done.”

When you’re not diving for a touchdown, I don’t think you slid against the Seahawks and there were instances where you took some decent hits, maybe, second-and-18 and you gained four. I realize your adrenaline’s going, you’re competitive, but maybe you rethink those type of situations?

“For sure. It’s a long game. It’s four quarters. It’s a long season. And so, when it’s second-and-18, just like you said, instead of getting a gain of four and lowering your shoulders and trying to get everything you get and being a competitor, I think it just comes down to the situation and being smart. Not only just protecting myself, but for my team. I want to be available to play and compete for my team and my guys around me. So, definitely got to think about all of those things and just be smart. How can I check the ball down, get the ball into a tight end or receiver’s hands, running backs hands as a check down? I’ve definitely got to think about those things. It’s the NFL and I have to learn as we go to be smart and protect my body, for sure.”