Packer Central

Packers-49ers Final Injury Report: Two of Niners’ Best Players Ruled Out

The Green Bay Packers will be without two defensive starters for Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, but the Niners have much, much larger injury concerns.

Bill Huber

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is out for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers.
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is out for Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. / Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Two Green Bay Packers starters, cornerback Jaire Alexander and linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, are out for Sunday’s NFC showdown against the San Francisco 49ers, but the big news from Friday is the 49ers will be without arguably their most important player on each side of the ball.

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan ruled out quarterback Brock Purdy and defensive end Nick Bosa. Purdy, who finished fourth in NFL MVP voting last year, and Bosa, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year, helped the 49ers knock the Packers out of last year’s playoffs on their way to the Super Bowl.

Plus, left tackle Trent Williams is questionable and might be a game-time decision.

The injuries potentially change the complexion of the game and the season fortunes of both teams. The Packers are 7-3 and in control of a wild-card spot in the NFC playoffs. The 49ers are 5-5 – tied for last in the NFC West and in 10th place in the playoff chase.

Purdy suffered a shoulder injury during Sunday’s loss against Seattle. He did not throw at practice on Wednesday and did at the start of practice on Thursday before going in for rehab, according to 49ers beat reporters.

He did not practice on Friday.

“I don't want to say there's long-term concern,” Shanahan told reporters. “We got the MRI on Monday. We thought he just needed some rest and really weren't concerned about him not being good this week. But when he started up Thursday, it just surprised him (and it) surprised us how it felt. So, we had to shut him down.”

While the MRI didn’t show any issues, the team will not risk its franchise quarterback who is going to get a colossal payday at some point after the season.

“We’ll see where he’s at today,” 49ers general manager John Lynch told San Francisco radio station KNBR (via 49ersWebzone.com) on Friday morning. “Hopefully, he makes progress, and we can have a shot at this weekend, but we’ll see. I think it is tenuous.”

Purdy has thrown 920 passes in his career. Among the legion of quarterbacks with at least 900 career passing attempts, Purdy ranks No. 1 in NFL history in passer rating and completion percentage.

In his place, Brandon Allen will start his first game since 2021. He is 2-7 for his career as a starter.

A sixth-round pick by the Jaguars in 2016, he’s completed 56.7 percent of his passes for his career – far below Purdy’s 67.8 percent. He has not thrown a pass in a regular-season game since 2022.

“I know Brandon,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said after Friday’s practice. “I was with him in LA (with the Rams). He’s played, he’s been in the league now a long time. But I wouldn’t expect their offense to change a whole bunch.”

Joshua Dobbs, who started games for the Vikings and Cardinals last season, will be the backup and could shake things up if the Niners are struggling. Dobbs is 3-11 for his career as starter, though he won two starts and once in relief in five appearances with the Vikings last year.

Bosa, who led the NFL in tackles for losses in 2021 and sacks in 2022, when he won NFL Defensive Player of the Year, had been fighting through a hip injury but compounded things with an oblique injury sustained while sacking Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.

“He was really playing a good game,” Lynch said of the Seattle game. “I saw the same thing you did. I'm hoping, looking down on the sidelines, that maybe he just tweaked it and he'll be all right. But, instead, it was worse than that. When I saw him taking the tape off, I'm saying, ‘Dang it, that’s not good.’”

Bosa is second in the NFL in pressures this season, according to Pro Football Focus. His 52 pressures are more than all of Green Bay’s defensive ends combined. He had five quarterback hits in last year’s playoff win vs. the Packers.

“Everyone talks about how great he is as a pass-rusher, and he’s one of the best in the NFL,” LaFleur said. “His get-off, his power, his ability to create an edge on a tackle is elite. He can get after guys pretty good.

“But he’s also really, really good in the run game, too. Just his physicality – anytime he’s one-on-one with a tight end, that’s a problem. So, he’s a guy you have to be aware of wherever he’s at on the field to make sure you’re not in a bad play.”

Williams, a first-team All-Pro each of the last three years, played through an ankle injury against Seattle. He didn’t practice this week and will be a game-time decision.

Tight end George Kittle (hamstring) and running back Christian McCaffrey (Achilles) are good to go.

Alexander suffered a torn PCL against Jacksonville, according to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman. After getting two weeks off – inactive against Detroit in Week 9 and the Week 10 bye – he tried to play through the injury against Chicago.

“I went out there and, (shoot), all I could really give was 10 plays and then I felt something,” Alexander said. “If you know how PCL work, it don’t just get done in three weeks, so it just needed more time. I reaggravated it going back out there and only doing 10 plays, so now we just trying to get my knee back right.”

LaFleur did not think Alexander would have to go on injured reserve.

Cooper, the team’s standout rookie linebacker, suffered a hamstring injury at Wednesday’s practice and didn’t practice the last two days.

“I think there’s obviously concern going into next week, being a short week, but I don’t think it’s going to be too long-term,” LaFleur said.

Cooper played a career-high 51 snaps against the Bears. Isaiah McDuffie and Eric Wilson will get more playing time. McDuffie is second on the team in tackles and Wilson is second in tackles for losses.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that can go in there and pick up the slack,” LaFleur said. “Never want to lose a guy like that but, if he can’t go, then we’ll have other guys ready.”

Defensive tackle Colby Wooden, who was inactive last week with a shoulder injury, practiced all week and is questionable. He was full participation on Friday.

Packers Final Injury Report

Out: CB Jaire Alexander (knee), LB Edgerrin Cooper.

Questionable: DT Colby Wooden (shoulder).

49ers Final Injury Report

Out: LB Talum Bethune (knee), DE Nick Bosa (hip/oblique), WR Jacob Cowing (concussion), DT Kevin Givens (groin), QB Brock Purdy (right shoulder), CB Charvarius Ward (personal).

Questionable: C Jon Feliciano (knee), LT Trent Williams (ankle).

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.