In all likelihood, the San Francisco 49ers are going to be without quarterback Brock Purdy for their Week 2 bout against the New Orleans Saints; head coach Kyle Shanahan telling reporters it'd be "a long shot" for the signal-caller to play.
Purdy suffered both toe and shoulder injuries during the Niners' season-opener win over the Seattle Seahawks. And while Purdy finished the game seemingly without issue, showing up on Monday's injury report wasn't exactly the news San Francisco fans wanted to receive.
Nor did they want to hear NFL Network's Ian Rapoport's report that Purdy is now poised to miss between two to five weeks because of a turf-toe condition:
From @GMFB: #Commanders QB Jayden Daniels (wrist) is off the injury report, while #49ers QB Brock Purdy is out 2-5 weeks with a turf toe variant, sources say. pic.twitter.com/xQPT3Jm3cS
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 11, 2025
This opens the door for the 49ers' high-profile No. 2 quarterback, Mac Jones, to assume starting duties in the interim, which is a story in of itself.
That said, exactly how long Jones has to hold the line remains a bit unclear.
At least until general manager John Lynch offered some clarification on the Purdy injury, specifically hinting at the timeline of his recovery.
John Lynch provides some optimism for Brock Purdy recovery
Speaking to the Bay Area's KNBR 680 mere hours after Rapoport's Thursday morning report, Lynch revealed some modestly good news about Purdy's recovery timeline.
"What I can confirm is I talked to, our trainer, our doctor, Dr. Anderson, who's the preeminent foot and ankle specialist in the NFL," Lynch described. "What we're dealing with is kind of a week-to-week thing. That's our information."
John Lynch gives us an update on Brock Purdy's status:
— KNBR (@KNBR) September 11, 2025
"I talked to our doctor, who's the preeminent foot and ankle specialist in the NFL ... What we're dealing with is kind of a week to week thing ... Going into the MRI scans and all that — the feeling was more on the positive… pic.twitter.com/gwq2H8AByV
Judging by Lynch's statements, it sounds like Purdy will be on the shorter end of the recovery spectrum, which means the maximum five-week estimate provided by Rapoport would have been applied to a worst-case scenario.
"Going into the scans and all that, I'll tell you that the feeling was more on the positive side than what it could have been going in there," Lynch continued. "That was a good thing. We look forward to getting Brock back, but in his stead, we're confident in Mac and his ability to compete at a high level for us."
At least according to said specialist, Purdy won't miss that much time and could theoretically be back for the Niners' Week 3 tilt against the Arizona Cardinals.
While it's not ideal news for the quarterback to miss any time, at least it's not poised to be a five-week absence.