MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Here is what I found

Purdy is facing an uphill battle to gain clearance to start this Sunday against the Bengals, but his presence at practice Thursday at least keeps the door open for him to play. The 49ers will reveal after practice concludes whether Purdy was a limited or full participant, but the signal-caller will still need to gain clearance from an independent neurologist in any case before exiting the protocol. Sam Darnold took all the first-team reps at Wednesday's walk-through session and would be in line to start Sunday if Purdy isn't available.

 

Daniel Jones ruled out, Tyrod Taylor to start again for Giants

Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was listed as questionable in Week Seven before eventually being ruled out with a neck injury, but the Giants are opting against using any smoke and mirrors this week.

Head coach Brian Daboll ruled Jones out on Friday. There wasn’t much suspense since Jones still has not been cleared for contact and won’t have any chance of returning to action until that changes.

Sunday’s game against the Jets will be the third straight game that Jones has missed. Tyrod Taylor will again start in his place and he will be trying for a second straight win after throwing a pair of touchdowns to help the Giants beat the Commanders last Sunday.

After the win, Taylor was asked if he thinks he’s done enough to be considered for full-time starting duty. He mostly sidestepped the question by saying he’s happy to help the team any way he can, but a win in the battle for MetLife Stadium bragging rights would likely lead to more calls for Taylor to remain at the helm of the offense regardless of other circumstances.

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Ryan Tannehill ruled out for Week 8, Will Levis and Malik Willis to play

Ryan Tannehill’s ankle injury will officially keep him sidelined for Week 8.

Titans head coach Mike Vrabel told reporters on Friday that Tannehill is out for the matchup with the Falcons. As Vrabel mentioned earlier in the week, both Will Levis and Malik Willis are set to see time at quarterback during the game.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported earlier in the week that Tennessee is preparing for Levis to start. But that might not mean much if both QBs are set to see time.

Willis came on in relief of Tannehill after the quarterback suffered his injury during the matchup with the Ravens in London. He completed 4-of-5 passes for 74 yards in the contest but also took four sacks.

As a rookie last season, Willis was 1-2 as a starter. He completed 31-of-61 passes for 276 yards with three interceptions in eight appearances.

Levis missed time in the preseason due to a thigh injury. In limited action, he completed 9-of-14 passes for 85 yards with a pick.

We’ll see how the Titans divide the snaps between the two quarterbacks on Sunday afternoon.

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Bears officially rule Justin Fields out, list Jaquan Brisker as questionable

Tyson Bagent is officially set to start against the Chargers on Sunday Night Football.

All signs have pointed in that direction this week with Justin Fields still out of practice with a right thumb injury and the Bears confirmed that he’s out for the second straight week on Friday afternoon. Fields has been ruled out and it’s uncertain when he’ll be well enough to move back into the lineup.

Bagent was 21-of-29 for 162 yards and a touchdown in last week’s 30-12 win over the Raiders.

Safety Jaquan Brisker missed his third straight day of practice with an illness and he’s been listed as questionable for Sunday along with offensive lineman Dan Feeney (knee) and safety Eddie Jackson (foot). Guard Nate Davis (ankle) and defensive back Terell Smith (illness) have been ruled out.

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Jonathan Gannon: “We’ll see” if Kyler Murray plays on Sunday

The Cardinals took quarterback Kyler Murray off of their injury report on Thursday, which means he is back to being a healthy, full participant in practice as he works his way back from an ACL tear.

Does that mean Murray will be on the field Sunday when the Cardinals take on the Ravens?

“We’ll see,” head coach Jonathan Gannon said on Friday, via Darren Urban of the team’s website.

Gannon also mentioned that Murray is fully healthy. If that’s the case and the Cardinals do not give Murray a game status — questionable, doubtful, or out — then the team will have to activate the quarterback off of the reserve/physically unable to perform list for Sunday.

If Murray does play Sunday, Gannon noted that the signal-caller won’t need a knee brace.

“The ball jumps off of his hand, he’s explosive getting out of the pocket, he’s got good command of the offense right now,” Gannon said. “He threads the needle pretty well on some certain throws.”

Murray suffered his ACL tear last Dec. 12 when the Cardinals were playing the Patriots.

If Murray isn’t activated, Joshua Dobbs will be in line to start another game for Arizona.

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Its a guessing game for now in Arizona... One thing is for certain, Roman Gabriel is not starting for the Cardinals.

 

Brock Purdy had full participation in practice Friday, listed as questionable

49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (concussion) was a full participant in Friday’s practice.

He remains in concussion protocol and still has to gain clearance from an independent neurologist Saturday to be cleared to play Sunday. But coach Kyle Shanahan said Purdy “definitely” will start if cleared.

Purdy began experiencing concussion symptoms on the flight home from Minnesota after Monday night’s game. He entered protocol Tuesday and missed Wednesday’s practice.

Purdy returned to practice on a limited basis Thursday.

The 49ers ruled out receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder), but they hope to get him back in Week 10 after their off week next week.


“He’s doing good,” Shanahan said, via David Bonilla of 49erswebzone.com. “I mean, it’s a little fracture, hairline fracture in his shoulder, so we’ve got to wait for that to heal. But he’s healthy enough everywhere else, so he’s conditioned and working out, doing well, and hopefully that’ll be good after the bye week.”

Left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) is questionable. He was doubtful last week and did not play.

Williams did some work early in practice, per Shanahan.

"[The decision] was a lot harder [on Monday] because we felt if he did go, there was no chance this week, or we definitely don’t want to hurt him two weeks from now,” Shanahan said. “But he also has two weeks to recover as opposed to five-and-a-half days to recover.”

NBC

 

Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (knee) is questionable for the second consecutive week.

Lawrence missed one practice last week and was limited in two others but played on a short week as the Jaguars beat the Saints on Thursday Night Football. He is coming off a mini-bye and was limited in the three practices this week.

Lawrence said this week that he expects to keep wearing a brace on his left knee at least for Sunday’s game against the Steelers.

The Jaguars ruled out receiver Zay Jones (knee) and cornerback Gregory Junior (hamstring).

Offensive lineman Brandon Scherff (ankle), offensive lineman Walker Little (knee), cornerback Tyson Campbell (hamstring), and safety Andre Cisco (hamstring) are questionable.

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I hope he plays. If he doesn't and the Steelers win, we'll be inundated with the "They only won because Lawrence was out". Of course, that's probably true.

 

He will play imo. Ran for 58 yards last week on that same gimpy knee. I think he just was getting rest this week and the 'injury designation' is just nomenclature at this moment. CJ Beathard and Rourke are the only other QB's on the roster, but they still will be holding the clip-board's. Ive been wrong many times before, but if i hear anything, i'll post it.

 

Gannon said yesterday that Murray "is fully healthy"... but he was downgraded to 'doubtful'. Kyler will be ready sooner rather than later, but it sounds to me they dont want the Ravens defense to kill him, lol. Scared I tell ya!

 

Brock Purdy clears concussion protocol, will start vs. Bengals

Sam Darnold’s first 49ers start will have to wait.

San Francisco announced on Saturday that Brock Purdy has cleared concussion protocol and will start against Cincinnati on Sunday.

Purdy was previously listed as questionable after he was a full participant in Friday’s practice. He did not participate on Wednesday and was limited on Thursday.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Purdy started experiencing concussion symptoms on the plane back from Minnesota following Monday night’s loss to the Vikings.

In seven games, Purdy has completed 68 percent of his passes for 1,668 yards with 11 touchdowns and three interceptions this year.

 

Jimmy G is "good to go" for Vegas Monday night.

7 TD's, 8 INT's worth of good to go.

 

Well, I'm glad that Purdy was able to clear the protocol. But I'm disappointed that I won't get to see Darnold make his 49ers debut starting appearance.

He doesn't get the credit that he deserves for the job he did once he returned from IR and became the starter in Carolina last year. After a pathetic start that got the coach fired and McCaffrey traded to SF in a fire sale, Darnold stepped in late and nearly won the division title. I would love for him to crank it up like he did late last season for the Panthers and show the 49ers fans how good a QB they now have as their backup.

 

I felt right from the git-go that if Darnold had to play, the 49ers would be just fine.

Purdy gets banged around and they might play him sooner than we think.

 

After his three fumbles last week (including one at the goal line for a Tampa touchback), the media still bashes Desmond Ridder and questions whether he'll keep the starting job.

Two reasons to say he's in no immediate jeopardy... (a) the Falcons are now in first place in the division. His fumbles made the game a lot harder than it should have been, but he came up clutch when he had to and led the game-winning drive to beat the Bucs head-to-head for the division lead.

And... (b) in the last three weeks, he has thrown for 886 yards. The only quarterback in the NFL who threw for more yards in that three week span was Patrick Mahomes.


To me the big question for this game will be the pass protection. Atlanta gave up 14 total sacks in their last three losses. In their last two wins, the team gave up no sacks and 1 sack - and Ridder responded with passer ratings over 100 in both games.

He's still a kid. He now has all of 11 career starts. If you can keep him clean and not make him run for his life or force bad throws under pressure, that will make a world of difference.

 

Very odd situation with Purdy over the last week.

It will be interesting to see whether he gets pulled in game if he starts poorly against the Bengals. If that sounds odd its kind of the point. A lot to do with this has felt a little off.

 

It is kinda 'odd'. He's only the second player to get back into action this quick. They say he had 'concussion type symptoms' on the plane out of Minnesota, but in a few days he's back on the practice field... so some say he didnt have a concussion to begin with.

 

If Brock Purdy suffers another concussion today, NFL will have a mess on its hands



49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, six days after suffering a concussion on Monday night in Minnesota. He’s received all appropriate and required clearances, both from team doctors and from an independent neurologist.

So he’s good to go. Ready to roll. Fit as a proverbial fiddle.

And if he suffers another concussion today, the NFL will be scraping something smelly from its shoes.

Even though it would be a separate injury, the obvious outcry would be that he shouldn’t have been cleared to play. Last year, Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa played on a Thursday night and ended up leaving on a stretcher, four days after a “back injury” that left him walking wobbly. The blowback was sudden and intense.

The clear difference in this case comes from the fact that Purdy was properly diagnosed with a concussion. He cleared the protocol, ultimately getting the blessing of a neurologist not affiliated with either team.


Of course, the neurologist is affiliated with the league. And the league has an obvious interest in having Purdy play in what arguably is the biggest game of the day, Bengals at 49ers, 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS.

The NFL has billed it as the No. 1 overall pick vs. Mr. Irrelevant. That pitch would have been even more irrelevant than Purdy, if Purdy hadn’t played.

“Independent” only means independence from the player’s team, which had a direct bias in favor of getting a player cleared to play. It’s not independence from the broader NFL apparatus.

That’s NOT meant to imply that any pressure was placed on the independent neurologist to clear Purdy; it’s just a recognition of the basic facts. The league doesn’t pluck a neurologist from the phone book with the one-off request to assess a single player. There’s an ongoing relationship there, and it’s impossible to separate the neurologist’s desire to maintain that relationship from the broader process of whether discretion will be exercised in favor of giving a game off, or whether caution will be thrown to the wind.

Was it a coincidence that, after Tua’s Thursday night concussion in 2022, only one player (Kenny Pickett) was cleared to return from a concussion without missing at least one game? Is it a coincidence that, with no league-wide concussion controversy (yet) this year, a player like Purdy got a ticket to play after only six days?

One thing is clear. The NFL will indeed have its first concussion controversy of 2023, if Purdy suffers another concussion today.

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Giants quarterback Daniel Jones, who has already missed two game and will miss a third game today, is expected to miss one more game next week before he can return.

The Giants are targeting the Week 10 game at Dallas for Jones’ return, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

 

Hicks was not fined.