Last week in New Orleans, Mac Jones made his first start as quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. Jones, who was drafted in the first round of the 2021 draft by the New England Patriots, joined the 49ers in March and was playing for the injured Brock Purdy, who sustained a toe injury in week one against the Seattle Seahawks. It is reportedly a turf toe injury, which can be an unsettling injury for any professional athlete. Turf toe injuries have been known to end players' careers. That list includes some NFL greats, such as Jack Lambert, Deion Sanders, and Jonathan Ogden.
Former Tennessee Titans QB Steve McNair was a league MVP who suffered a turf toe injury. His play never returned to its MVP level, and he struggled with the injury for a couple of seasons.
There didn't appear to be much angst that Purdy could be impacted like those others, but there was some concern that he could miss several weeks. This week, however, Purdy returned to practice and was able to get some work in. The 49ers listed him as "limited." And while he likely won't start on Sunday, there is hope that he can continue to improve and not miss much time.
On Friday, Matt Maiocco, of NBC Sports Bay Area, sat down with 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan to discuss the young season. Among the topics they discussed was Purdy's injury. Maiocco asked Shanahan how encouraged he was by Purdy's progress with the toe injury.
"Very," Shanahan said. "I think when someone tells you, when you hear turf toe, and then I'm automatically, I've heard people's careers get ruined by turf toe. I've heard people miss the whole year. You saw what happened to Joe Burrow last week, and when you hear turf toe and they say he needs surgery and he's out three months. So after this Seattle game, when they tell me it's turf toe, and they can see my face, and then they're like, 'maybe, kind of,' I'm like, 'what does that mean?' I'm like, 'well, there's different types of turf toe.'
"There's six ligaments or something in there you can injure, and he didn't get all the bad ones, which kind of makes it, that's why they told us around two to six weeks, something like that. You weren't sure. So I was kind of mixed feelings about it, just not really knowing what to expect. But the fact that he was able to get out and practice this week, do some stuff, have a chance to play here on Sunday, makes me very encouraged what it could have been."
Purdy and the 49ers may have dodged a bullet. If Purdy ends up missing only one or two games with this injury, he and his team can feel very fortunate. Until he returns, Jones will continue to lead the team. And if last Sunday was any indication, the 49ers are in good hands.
Watch the entire interview below:
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