Why the 49ers should not play Brock Purdy against the Rams on Thursday

Brock Purdy has a toe injury that won't go away.

He injured it Week 1, sat the next two weeks before returning yesterday against the Jaguars. Before the game, the 49ers removed him from their injury report entirely, which means he allegedly was 100 percent healthy.

But, Purdy was awful against the Jaguars. He turned the ball over three times, all on first down, and sailed at least a dozen throws over his receivers. He couldn't move well, nor could he throw accurately. He seemed like his toe clearly was affecting his performance.

After the game, both Purdy and Shanahan insisted that the toe was not an issue. But on Monday morning on a conference call with Bay Area reporters, Shanahan changed his tune.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. | D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

"I didn't say it last night," Shanahan said, "but Brock Purdy is complaining about some soreness in his toe this morning, so we'll have to look into that more later today."

"Did Brock indicate the toe was bothering him during the game?" a reporter asked.

"No, he didn't indicate it to me at all during the game," Shanahan said. "I talked to him on the phone last night and he said it was starting to bother him a little bit last night, but nothing during the game at all."

Anyone with eyes could see that Purdy's toe was bothering him. And if it's sore today, it probably will be sore on Thursday when the 49ers play the Rams in Los Angeles.

And that means Purdy should not play. The 49ers should rest him until his toe is 100 percent recovered. Because right now, he's a liability.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13). | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

While Purdy's toe is compromised, he lacks the quickness to evade sacks, an ability that makes him special. Now, he's a pocket quarterback who can't drive off his toe, so his passes sail and are inaccurate. Which means he's a scattershot statue right now.

As opposed to his backup, Mac Jones, who also is a statue, but at least he can throw the ball accurately from the pocket. He doesn't need to move to be effective -- Purdy does.

Shanahan should have recognized that Purdy was injured and benched him at halftime against the Jaguars. Had Shanahan acted quickly, the 49ers might have won that game. Because Purdy almost singlehandedly lost it with his three awful turnovers.

Don't make the same mistake again on Thursday, Kyle. Sit Purdy and start Jones.

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