Why 49ers QB Brock Purdy's Shoulder Injury is Concerning

There is a chance that the 49ers won't have Brock Purdy back in Week 13 against the Buffalo Bills.

November 17, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) warms up before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Being without Brock Purdy against the Green Bay Packers stung the San Francisco 49ers.

It essentially chalked up the game as a loss for the 49ers before they even played it. Purdy is dealing with soreness in his throwing shoulder that he suffered in Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. The 49ers are hoping to get him back in Week 13 when they face the Buffalo Bills.

"He did some light throwing today and it went all good," said Kyle Shanahan on Monday via conference call. "He had, we didn't push it that hard, but did some light throwing, which was a good sign that the pain hadn't come back. And we'll rest it tomorrow and see how he feels as the week goes.”

Everything sounds good on Purdy, but then again this is the 49ers here. Nothing is ever simple when it comes to injuries. They are labeling his injury as "soreness" yet he needed to undergo two MRIs to see what was going on. At this point, Purdy's shoulder injury is concerning. Shanahan was pressed further about Purdy's injury and gave an exhaustive answer.

“To clarify guys, with Brock’s shoulder, it's exactly what I've worded to you guys every time. We got the MRI last week, his shoulder was bothering him, we thought it would be alright by Thursday and it hurt worse Thursday than it did earlier in the week. So we rested it throughout the weekend hoping that would help. He threw lighter today to see if that rest helped and the rest did help him. So we'll see again, going through the same things we did last week. We're going to let him rest all the way up to Wednesday. We'll see how it feels on Wednesday, and then we'll take the exact same course throughout the week and hopefully it responds better this week than it did last week with the rest.

Sassy much? It's extremely fair to delve further into what's going on with Purdy. Shanahan always loves to play dumb with the injuries of his players. He actually wants everyone to believe he has zero clue what the injuries are. He is the head coach. Of course, he knows what is going on.

He just doesn't want to let anyone know. Part of it is gamesmanship, but I think it is mostly because he likes to keep it all to himself. It was the case with Christian McCaffrey and his supposed "calf strain" that held him out of training camp. No one batted an eye at that news.

Sure enough, the curtains increasingly were pulled back to reveal exactly what was going on with McCaffrey. Turns out it was Achilles tendinitis the whole time. The 49ers can never be fully believed with their injury reports. There tends to be more at hand than they let on.

So, of course, there is cause for concern with Purdy. He needed a second MRI for crying out loud. If that doesn't generate an eyebrow raise at the very least, then the 49ers are playing their audience exactly how they'd like. Purdy's injury could very well be just soreness.

Then again, don't be surprised if there is more to his injury than the 49ers are letting on.