Three weeks after suffering a turf toe injury, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy returned to the field—though head coach Kyle Shanahan later admitted that the move may have been premature. Purdy aggravated the injury during the Week 4 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars and went on to miss the next six games.

During his time sidelined, Purdy stayed locked in. He focused intently on rehabbing his toe and took a deep dive into his past performances, leading to a noteworthy realization about his style of play.


While Purdy could have pushed to return sooner for his teammates, he understood that anything less than full mobility would hinder both himself and the 49ers' offense.

The strong play of backup quarterback Mac Jones, a former first-round pick, also allowed the team to remain patient with his recovery.

But it was Purdy's film study that reinforced the importance of coming back only when he could play his brand of football.

"I saw decisive quarterback play, and good football, playing on rhythm, playing on time, and also being able to make plays off-schedule; that's part of my game," Purdy told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer after Sunday's win over the Arizona Cardinals. "I think just rehabbing the toe, I was like, I'm not going to go out there and play, and not be able to do what I can do. That's what the whole decision with this toe thing was; I need to be able to play the way I play, moving around, off-schedule, that kind of thing.

"Just watching those games gave me confidence, that I was pretty close to feeling and looking like that."


Purdy certainly looked like his old self against the Cardinals. He moved comfortably inside and outside the pocket, completing 73.1% of his passes for 200 yards and three touchdowns while guiding the 49ers to a dominant 41–22 victory at State Farm Stadium.

As for the injured toe, it barely crossed his mind during the game.

"I felt great going into the game in terms of my toe, my health, and everything," Purdy said. "Percentage-wise, I don't really know. I wouldn't say I'm 100%—but pretty close. And I think just, overall, when I got out on the field, I didn't think about my toe. I was just going through my reads, dropping back, playing quarterback. Scrambling and rolling out and everything, it felt fine. I didn't think about it once. That was positive."

Follow us on: X, Facebook, Threads, Instagram

Read Original Article
Visit 49ers Webzone

More San Francisco 49ers News