Purdy sounds confident he’ll play against Seahawks
San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he didn’t know Tuesday whether injured rookie quarterback Brock Purdy would be able to play Thursday night against the Seahawks.
“We’ll find that out as these two days go,” Shanahan said. “We don’t have much time, but we’re not going to try to figure that out today or tomorrow. It’d probably be on Thursday where we’d have the best chance to know.”
Really? Purdy stepped to the same podium moments after Shanahan spoke and didn’t sound uncertain about his status. Instead, the seventh-round pick spoke of the “challenge” of playing through an oblique and rib injury in a high-stakes matchup on a short week.
“I feel like this is part of the game,” Purdy said. “A lot of the guys have said ‘Welcome to the NFL’ in terms of getting banged up a little bit and you’ve got to be ready to roll in four days. … I can prove to myself that I belong here, and I can play here and I can do all these things.”
Of course, Purdy’s body will have to cooperate for him to play in a game in which a win would clinch the NFC West title for the 49ers (9-4). Purdy, who spoke before an early-evening practice, said he felt “pretty good” but acknowledged that he hadn’t attempted to throw since he was injured in Sunday’s 35-7 win against the Buccaneers.
And it wasn’t clear — at least to the media — how effectively Purdy could throw Tuesday. The 49ers’ practice at Levi’s Stadium was closed to reporters before Purdy attempted a warm-up pass.
Backup Josh Johnson, 36, who was signed off Denver’s practice squad last week, was asked about preparing for a game he conceivably could start.
“You would know better than I would,” Johnson said. “It’s the same approach for me: being ready as always. You never know when your number could be called. … I wouldn’t do anything different than I would do any other week.”
Samuel’s timeline: A day after the 49ers said wide receiver Deebo Samuel would return during the regular season, Shanahan provided more clarity about his recovery timeline.
“There’s four weeks left in the season and I think they told me three-ish (weeks) is their expectation,” Shanahan said.
That suggests Samuel could return for the regular-season finale against the Cardinals on Jan. 7 or 8. An MRI exam revealed Samuel suffered a sprained MCL and sprained ankle after he was carted off the field Sunday in tears.
“It’s a big-time relief,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “With how emotional he was on the field, and not knowing what was to come, I think that’s pretty good news.”
Brady ball: After suggesting that linebacker Dre Greenlaw ask Tampa Bay QB Tom Brady to autograph the ball Greenlaw intercepted in the third quarter Sunday, Warner joined his teammate to make the postgame request.
The reason: Warner would have felt responsible if Brady didn’t feel like putting a pen to a ball that was thrown for a pick. Good call. Brady acknowledged Monday on his weekly SiriusXM podcast that he wasn’t exactly thrilled.
“It was s— for me, to be honest. It was complete s—,” Brady said, laughing. “But I try to be a gentleman. No, actually, I mean, look, it was a great play he made. I’m happy he’s got the ball. I wish I didn’t throw it, but I’m trying to be a good sport. Because a lot of times, I’m not a good sport. I can be a pretty bad sport. In the moment when they get me in the right frame of mind, I’m actually a good sport.”
Rivalry game: After Pro Bowl pass rusher Nick Bosa said the 49ers and Seahawks didn’t “particularly like each other,” he was asked whether it felt like a college rivalry.
“I don’t feel like it as much from the players with the Seahawks,” Bosa said. “I feel it more with the Rams I’d say, playerswise. I think coaching staffs might be the rivalry in this one.”