If everything goes well, San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy will reportedly make his highly anticipated comeback from turf toe in Week 11. He's missed eight of the club's past nine games, including six straight, so this undeniably a massive development.
Purdy has been inching toward a return for a while. His head coach, Kyle Shanahan, even admitted he could've suited up for the 49ers' 42-26 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
However, other recent context suggests San Francisco may be putting its franchise signal-caller back in the lineup too soon -- again.
San Francisco has rightfully erred cautiously to avoid any further complications after seeing Purdy reaggravate and exacerbate the ailment. Shanahan has been the voice of reason when it comes to justifying the extensive recovery, though his comments and actions don't exactly align.
Latest Brock Purdy injury update puts Kyle Shanahan under microscope
A day following the 49ers' defeat to the Rams, Shanahan expressed patience. He said the team wants Purdy to make it through "three aggressive practices" without issue before clearing the latter, though that ship has ostensibly sailed.
According to the "preliminary" injury report, Purdy logged a limited session the 49ers kicked off their preparation to face the Arizona Cardinals.
That designation comes courtesy of Shanahan; see the problem here?
Suddenly, Purdy is in line to be under center when the 49ers travel to Arizona? He's yet to ramp up football activities and go full throttle -- multiple times -- as Shanahan indicated would be required to gain clearance to play.
Something's not adding up.
We're not sure what exactly is happening behind the scenes, but the optics are contradictory to virtually everything Shanahan has said since Purdy's initial setback. The updates have been all over the place, making it hard to gauge the true severity of the matter. It's on us to decipher what's noise versus what's real, and the tea leaves are difficult to read.
Not long ago Shanahan was just "pretty confident" that Purdy will rejoin the squad at some point in 2025. San Francisco's sideline general has also indicated that this will be an ailment that lingers for the remainder of the campaign.
Could desperation be kicking in? Backup passer Mac Jones has regressed the longer he's been filling in for Purdy. Moreover, despite their 6-4 record, the Niners are on the outside and looking into the NFC playoffs in what's arguably the most competitive division in football.
Either way, the 49ers must be careful with Purdy, who they made the highest-paid player in franchise history this past offseason. The five-year, $265 million payday entrenches him as San Francisco's signal-caller of the present and future.