49ers QB Brock Purdy remains severely limited by injury to his throwing shoulder

AP Pro Football Writer

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Brock Purdy threw one short pass in the open portion of practice for the San Francisco 49ers as he remains slowed by an injury to his throwing shoulder that has already forced him to miss a game.

Purdy spent the bulk of the session of Wednesday’s practice open to reporters as either a spectator or executing handoffs outside of one short pass to Jordan Mason.

Purdy hurt his shoulder during a loss to Seattle on Nov. 17. He tried to throw at practice last Thursday but had soreness in his right shoulder and shut it down.

He missed a loss to Green Bay but was able to do some light throwing on Monday. His status for this week remains in doubt as the Niners (5-6) prepare to visit Buffalo on Sunday night.

Purdy isn’t the only key player for San Francisco dealing with injuries. Left tackle Trent Williams and defensive end Nick Bosa remain sidelined at practice Wednesday after missing last week’s game.

Williams was using a scooter to get around the locker room as he deals with a left ankle injury. Bosa has been out with injuries to his left hip and oblique.

Bosa said the week off helped him make progress and that he hopes to be able to take part in individual drills later in the week. Bosa wouldn’t rule out being able to play on Sunday.

“It’s feeling a lot better,” Bosa said. “Still need to get better before I’m ready to go. This week will be big and I’ll know a lot more in the next couple of days.”

Running back Christian McCaffrey has been able to play, but isn’t back to the form that helped him win AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2023 after missing the first eight games this season with Achilles tendinitis.

McCaffrey has 149 yards rushing in three games back with his 3.5 yards per carry down significantly from last season’s mark of 5.4. But he is confident he will be able to get back to his usual level of play.

“When you lose and maybe you don’t jump out on the stat sheet, your failures are highlighted,” he said. “I’m happy I’m out here playing football and I just know with time it will come.”

Coach Kyle Shanahan said he has liked what he has seen from McCaffrey, adding that there hasn’t been much room to run in recent weeks. But Shanahan said it takes time to get back to speed after McCaffrey had almost no practice time for nine months.

“Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that,” Shanahan said. “I think Christian’s doing a hell of a job. But to just think him coming back in Week 8 with not being able to do anything for the last nine months or whatever it is, and to think he’s just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation.”

NOTES: LB Dre Greenlaw took part in his first practice since tearing his Achilles tendon in the Super Bowl. Greenlaw will likely need a couple of weeks of practice before being able to play. … LB Fred Warner said he has been dealing with a fracture in his ankle since Week 4 and is doing his best to manage the pain as he plays through it. … CB Deommodore Lenoir didn’t practice after banging knees on Sunday. His status for this week remains in question. … DT Jordan Elliott (concussion), OL Aaron Banks (concussion) and LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (knee) also didn’t practice.

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