Numerous Cardinals and 49ers Stars Pop on Week 3 Injury Report

The Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers are quite banged up.

Sep 7, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) stands on the sideline during the first quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images | Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

The NFL season is still young, though the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers already have lengthy injury reports ahead of their Week 3 clash in Santa Clara.

For the Cardinals, Will Johnson was a DNP today due to a groin injury. He, along with Max Melton, avoided injured reserve after both left Week 2 with what appeared to be serious injuries, though Garrett Williams did not - you can read more about that here.

Speaking of Melton, he was limited with a knee ailment alongside six other Cardinals today:

Kelvin Beachum (rest), Will Hernandez (knee), Paris Johnson Jr. (knee), Tip Reiman (foot), Cody Simon (concussion) and Dante Stills (elbow)

Reiman and Simon both missed Arizona's Week 2 clash against the Carolina Panthers. This is the first time Johnson has popped on the injury report while Hernandez still is working his way back from last year's ACL injury.

For the 49ers, eight of the ten players listed on their report were DNP's:

Nick Bosa (rest), Spencer Buford (knee), Yetur Gross-Matos (knee), Jauan Jennings (ankle/shoulder), Kyle Juszczyk (concussion), Christian McCaffrey (calf/rest), Siran Neal (concussion) and Trent Williams (rest/knee).

A pleasant surprise for San Francisco made its way on Wednesday's injury report, as it was revealed prior to practice that Brock Purdy would be back on the field in limited fashion as he deals with a toe and left shoulder injury.

Will the familiarity help Arizona on Sunday? Jonathan Gannon says Kyle Shanahan is creative in terms of adjusting:

“(San Francisco 49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan), he's always going to change and adapt to who he's playing and what he thinks is the best way to go about it. There'll be some things that we haven't seen on tape, even playing them for however many years now that we've been here. Plus, these last two games, you're going to get some wrinkles.”

Jordan James was a full participant with a finger issue.

The Cardinals, who swept the 49ers last season, look to extend their record to 3-0 while San Francisco aims to do the same in what's already been established as a competitive NFC West division.

“I would say it's a great vibe there," said Kyler Murray when asked about playing at Levi's Stadium.

"Great vibe, beautiful stadium. Fans are always electric. Just playing outside, it's usually sunny (against) a divisional opponent. It's all you can ask for. It's a great opportunity to go out there and play on the road. Just love it.”