Kyle Shanahan Explains Why Brock Purdy Won't Start Even If Available in Week 9

Purdy has missed most of the 2025 season with a turf toe injury.

Purdy started in Weeks 1 and 4. / Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been dealing with a turf toe injury all season that has kept him out of most of San Francisco’s games this year.

Purdy was said to be making substantial progress in practice late this week, and the word from coach Kyle Shanahan is that he may be available for the team's Week 9 game against the Giants. Only... not as a starter.

That unique designation confused some, but Shanahan gave an explanation in his press conference on Friday as for why Purdy won't start, even though he may technically be healthy enough to go.

"He didn't get all the starter reps this week. As soon as he had a chance to get through practice and stuff the first time, we let him get all those starter reps and it was great. Then there was a chance he could re-hurt it in the game and he did and he's been out for the last month," Shanahan said. "He got more reps this week, but we weren't going to commit to all of that like we did last time. So I think it's easing it back more than last time."

So, the reasoning is fairly simple: The team hurried him back ahead of Week 4, and the result was Purdy needing even more time to get back to practice availability than when he initially injured the toe. Rather than risking the same outcome, the Niners appear to believe a bit more rest will help the young quarterback's rest-of-season health.

It makes sense, considering the Niners just agreed to a massive contract extension with the young quarterback ahead of this season. While there has been plenty of speculation that the team could hand the keys to Mac Jones even after Purdy is back given how well he's performed in Purdy's absence, that's incredibly unlikely.

The public confusion about Purdy's injury is largely to do with him being "day-to-day" for so many weeks in a row. The young QB has explained that the injury has been a frustrating, lingering process, with setbacks along the way. The day-to-day designation, in this case, doesn't mean he's set to return in a matter of days, rather, that the team is having to monitor his progression each day.

Shanahan added at one point that Purdy's toe is not, "fully healthy." He also said Purdy didn't get, "a lot," of starter reps this week.

San Francisco, 5-3, has won four of its six games without Purdy with Mac Jones under center.

Full Brock Purdy 2025 injury timeline

• Week 1: Purdy suffered the turf toe injury in Week 1, a win over the Seahawks. He did not leave the game.
• Week 2: Purdy missed practice leading up to a matchup against the Saints (W), while also nursing a shoulder injury.
• Week 3: Purdy was a limited participant in practice but had optimism for his status against the Cardinals in Week 3. He would miss that game.
• Week 4: Purdy was a more active participant in practice (upgraded to full participant by week's end), and played against the Jaguars. He re-aggravated his toe injury, but again played all of the snaps in the start, a loss to the Jaguars.
• Week 5: Purdy was optimistic he could make it back for a matchup with the Rams, but the game being on Thursday shortened his week. He did not practice.
• Week 6: Purdy did not practice throughout the week, ultimately missing the game vs. the Buccaneers.
• Week 7: Missed a game vs. the Falcons after being questionable throughout the week, limited practice participant.
• Week 8: Limited practice participant again.
• Week 9: More actively involved in practice, possible to serve as backup quarterback.
• Week 10: Purdy was limited all week at practice again, and is questionable for Week 10's game. Mac Jones is expected to start as of Friday.

Week	Practice Day	Practice status
1	1	Healthy
1	2	Healthy
1	3	Healthy
2	1	DNP
2	2	DNP
2	3	DNP
3	1	Limited
3	2	Limited
3	3	Limited
4	1	Limited
4	2	Limited
4	3	Full participant
5	1	DNP
5	2	DNP
5	3	DNP
6	1	DNP
6	2	DNP
6	3	DNP
7	1	Limited
7	2	Limited
8	1	Limited
8	2	Limited
8	3	Limited
9	1	Limited
9	2	Limited
9	3	Limited
10	1	Limited
10	2	Limited
10	3	Limited

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