SANTA CLARA, Calif. — During and immediately after Sunday’s loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy said his injured toe felt fine throughout the game.
As time wore on and adrenaline wore off, that wasn’t the case. Purdy called coach Kyle Shanahan on Sunday night and told him that the toe was bothering him again. Shanahan said Monday morning that Purdy, who has been recovering from a form of turf toe, will be evaluated more Monday before the team has an idea of the severity of the setback.
But with the 3-1 Niners set to play the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night, Purdy’s status for that game is again up in the air.
“Hopefully we’ll find out more later today, but any time guys are sore and hurting on a Monday, you usually don’t stress too much about it,” Shanahan said. “But anytime you have a Thursday game, it’s a totally different element. So, I’m concerned with anybody who’s not totally healthy at this moment, but we’ll have to get more information on that later today to really have a clue of what to speculate.”
Purdy missed victories against the New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals but returned Sunday against the Jaguars after participating in practice throughout last week. Purdy was limited Wednesday and Thursday but listed as a full participant on Friday when he was cleared to return.
While Mac Jones would have started a third straight game if Purdy had been unable to play, Jones has also been dealing with a knee sprain that limited him in practice last week. Jones was active as Purdy’s backup, but Shanahan said during the week that Jones was more limited in practice than Purdy.
Against the Jaguars, Purdy was 22-of-38 for 309 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for a 52.1 QBR. Purdy also lost a fumble when he was hit by Jaguars defensive lineman Arik Armstead late in the game.
Despite those struggles, Purdy said after the game that the toe did not bother him and that he “felt good” during the game. He did leave open the possibility that the toe had an effect on his mechanics, leading to him missing high on a number of throws.
“I think just getting back out there and throwing and getting into a rhythm, being down two weeks, coming back and feeling out my body and everything, obviously how my toe feels. Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that,” Purdy said of how the toe might have affected his throws. “But obviously I’m going to watch this film, look at my mechanics and be real with myself and try to fix that.”
Purdy’s injury isn’t the only concern for the Niners as they prepare for the short turnaround to play the Rams. Receivers Ricky Pearsall (right knee) and Jauan Jennings (ribs) also dealt with injuries in the loss to Jacksonville.
Pearsall was hurt when he came down hard on the sideline after attempting to get his feet in bounds on a catch. He spent time in the medical tent, emerged to do some running and cutting and went back in for one play before he departed and didn’t return.
That came after Pearsall dealt with soreness in his left knee last week.
“I was testing out my knee,” Pearsall said. “I fell pretty hard on that play on the sideline, trying to keep my feet in bounds, and I fell pretty hard on my knee. I was just feeling pain and a little bit of instability. I wasn’t trying to mess with it.”
Asked Monday if there was concern about a potential long-term knee injury for Pearsall, Shanahan said the initial indication is it’s not but that there is still more testing to be done on Monday and Pearsall could miss Thursday night’s game.
“They’re thinking more of a minor PCL or something like that is what our guess is, just landing on it hard,” Shanahan said. “Hopefully it won’t be too bad. Obviously, a huge concern with the Thursday night game and stuff, but we’re not expecting it to be too bad.”
Jennings, meanwhile, added a rib injury to the ankle and shoulder issues that kept him out against Arizona. He took a hard hit when he was sandwiched between two Jaguars defenders on a 2-point conversion.
Like Pearsall, Jennings will get further evaluation Monday.
“It’s just part of football,” Jennings said. “I try to let my family, outsiders know that’s part of the game. We get hit, but we bounce back. Playing through injuries is nothing new.”
Because the 49ers play Thursday, they will have to release their first injury report of the week Monday. It will an estimation of participation for practice. As is custom for the short week, the Niners will not do any full speed practicing before playing the Rams.