If Kyle Shanahan wants to take the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl, he might have to reach even deeper into his bag of tricks. Quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a right elbow injury against the Philadelphia Eagles and is now questionable to return to Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. Let’s take a look at the latest on the 49ers’ rookie signal-caller as San Francisco turns to backup Josh Johnson.
Update: Johnson left the game with a concussion, forcing Purdy to re-enter the game. The 49ers believe Purdy injured his UCL, but are hopeful it’s not ruptured and will only require a six-week recovery, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.
Brock Purdy Injury Update
On the sixth play of the 49ers’ first drive, Purdy was hit by Eagles edge rusher Haason Reddick. While the play was initially ruled an incompletion, it was changed to a fumble and a Philadelphia recovery following an Eagles challenge.
Since then, Purdy has spent time in the blue medical tent, in the locker room, and on the 49ers’ sideline getting checked out by San Francisco’s medical staff, and he now has a black sleeve or brace on his right elbow. The 49ers have listed him as questionable to return.
Purdy, the final selection of the 2022 NFL Draft, was already the third quarterback San Francisco has deployed this season. Trey Lance began the year as the Niners’ starting quarterback before suffering a season-ending season injury. Jimmy Garoppolo made 10 starts before being sidelined by a foot injury.
Garoppolo is on the mend, and reports have indicated he could be close to returning to action. However, he’s inactive for the NFC title game.
The 49ers signed Johnson to their active roster in December after Garoppolo went down. Johnson, 36, has played for an NFL-record 14 teams in his career. He’s only taken a few snaps in relief of Purdy this season, but he did make one start and throw for more than 600 total yards between stints with the Ravens and Jets in 2021.