Purdy avoided serious injury

The 49ers didn’t make a major move at quarterback, counting on

Brock Purdy to return to full health from the elbow injury he suffered in January’s NFC Championship game.

Purdy made it back in time for training camp with few restrictions . . . yet it took barely a week for a near disaster.

In Monday’s practice, 49ers defensive end Clelin Ferrell hit Purdy’s right arm as he was throwing, eerily reminiscent of the play that knocked Purdy out in January.

“I had to hold my breath so I didn’t lose my mind,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Shanahan has been emphasizing the importance of keeping the quarterback healthy in practice because he has had dreadful luck with injuries. Jimmy Garoppolo’s torn ACL and ankle injuries ruined the 2018 and 2020 seasons.

Trey Lance lost nearly a year and a half of development after breaking his finger on a defensive player’s helmet in practice. And now Purdy almost reinjured his elbow in practice.

“I mean, that’s all we talk about,” Shanahan said. “I used to get annoyed when coaches would make such a big deal about it when I was younger, because it’s like, ‘Chill out man, just let them play football. It’s not the end of the world.’ And then eventually you coach long enough and you lose players in practice to some things like that, and you realize how big of a deal it is. So, the defense gets annoyed with me a little bit on it, but I never stop talking about how to protect guys, and not just the quarterback.”

Shanahan said he likes the new rule that requires all trench players to wear an extra layer of padding on top of their helmets, called Guardian Caps.

“When you hit your finger on those helmets, there’s kind of a pillow on top, so that helps a lot,” he said.