Why the 49ers are so confident that Brock Purdy finally is ready to play

They better be right.

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SANTA CLARA -- Once again, the 49ers seem to be rushing Brock Purdy back from his toe injury. Or, at least they seem overly eager for him to return.

On Monday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said he wanted to see three "aggressive" practices from Purdy this week before naming him the starter for Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals.

On Wednesday, Purdy practiced as a limited participant. That was one practice. On Thursday, he was a full participant. That was practice No. 2. And when it was over, Shanahan officially and impatiently named Purdy the starter. Apparently, Shanahan didn't need to see a third aggressive practice from Purdy. Apparently, Shanahan has seen enough.

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"He's not limited at all," Shanahan said on KNBR. "He had a full practice today. I thought he was real close last week. Last week, we were considering it, even getting him up at least to be a backup and stuff, but we thought it would help him one more week.

"Just speaking with him and stuff and watching him this whole week, I couldn’t agree more, because I think he looked great in practice this week. And I can’t tell any difference in how Brock’s always been. So, I think he made it a pretty easy decision for us. So, no point in messing around. It’s time to go."

That all sounds well and good. But remember, Purdy is returning from his second toe injury of the season. The first one occurred in Week 1. Then, the 49ers brought him back in Week 4 because they were certain he was ready, just as they're certain now.

But Purdy wasn't ready. His throws were loopy and inaccurate. His mobility was nonexistent. And he reinjured his toe.

So on Wednesday, I asked Shanahan why he's so confident he's right about Purdy's readiness this time when he was wrong the first time.

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"The last six weeks," Shanahan said. "That's why we've handled it this way. It has to do more with kind of what he tells me and then what I see. So, it's going both."

On Thursday, I asked offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak the same question.

"It's a fair question," Kubiak said. "I think we learned from those instances. We learned more about Brock. He learned more about himself and how his body reacts to things. Any player is going to want to go, Any player is going to want to push through things. But you learn through experience what you really can push through. What maybe was wrong then that needs to feel better this time."

TRANSLATION: Purdy pushed hard to play and the coaches didn't stop him.

After Kubiak spoke, Purdy came to the podium, and I asked him why he's so confident he's ready this time when he wasn't ready last time.

"Going into the Jacksonville game, I felt good," Purdy said. "I had two weeks of rest. And then boom, I got caught in an awkward position. This time, we've taken it one week at a time, one day at a time. And so, here we are after six games. I feel really good now. That's just the decision we made and the plan that we've had."

Finally, I asked Purdy if he will wear a steel plate in his cleat to protect his toe from reinjury, and he said no. So, he really believes he's ready to go. Of course, he thought he was ready in Week 4, and he was wrong.

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If he's wrong again, if he struggles like he struggled against the Jaguars, if he happens to injure his toe for a third time, Kyle Shanahan will face intense scrutiny and criticism for unnecessarily rushing his franchise quarterback back onto the field yet again. And the 49ers will have a full-blown quarterback controversy.

And no one truly knows if Purdy is ready. Not Shanahan. Not Purdy. Not us. We'll all find out on Sunday.

Fortunately for Purdy, the Cardinals are more injured than they are, and the 49ers should beat them no matter which quarterback plays.

Seems like the 49ers put themselves in a high-risk, low-reward position.