Brock Purdy was an unlikely leading man when he became the 49ers’ starting quarterback as a rookie, but the five-year contract extension he signed before last season left no doubt that he’ll be playing the role for a long time.
Purdy struggled with a toe injury for most of the first half of the year, but returned to start six straight wins that pushed the 49ers into the playoffs. He threw 16 touchdowns over that span, but a Week 18 loss to the Seahawks kept the Niners from winning the division and they lost in Seattle again in the divisional round of the playoffs to end the season.
The two Seattle losses were poor outings for Purdy and he threw a pair of interceptions in a playoff win against the Eagles as well, so the final three-game run last season might be why fullback Kyle Juszczyk has picked up on negative feelings about his teammate. During an appearance on The Jim Rome Show, Juszczyk said that he thinks Purdy is being shortchanged in the court of public opinion.
“I don’t know what it is, what it’s going to take for this guy to finally get the respect that I think he truly deserves,” Juszczyk said. “Season in, season out, he plays tremendously and I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that he’s not a first-round draft pick, if that is just going to be the story for his entire career and be kind of held against him. Maybe. I love the guy, as a person, as my quarterback, as a football player. He is the dude.”
Purdy was the final pick in the draft and that lent itself to an early narrative that Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system made him a success, but Purdy’s continued strong play has chipped away at that argument. He’s also shown he can win in the playoffs by getting the team to the Super Bowl in his second season and winning five overall times in the postseason, so it’s hard to conjure up too many reasons to doubt Purdy’s ability to lead the Niners even if those that do are capturing the ears of his teammate.
Wide receiver Chris Brazzell is wrapping up the pre-draft visit window with a busy week.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Brazzell is set to visit with the Packers, Commanders and 49ers ahead of next week’s draft. Brazzell also spent time with the Panthers, Colts and Cardinals last week.
Brazzell spent two years at Tulane before wrapping up his time in college with two seasons at Tennessee. He had 74 catches over his first three seasons and then posted 62 catches for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns with the Volunteers last season.
That production has put him in play as an early-round pick and he’ll find out just where he’ll be starting his NFL career in a little over a week.
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan has griped about starting the 2026 season in the Land Down Under. During a Friday press conference in Melbourne, Commissioner Roger Goodell just smiled and gave him a Vegemite sandwich.
Shanahan spoke repeatedly at the recent NFL annual meeting about the team’s season-opening game in Australia. He’s obviously not thrilled about a Week 1 game that includes such a long trip through so many time zones.
Especially since he believes the Rams specifically lobbied for the 49ers to be the opponent in Melbourne, in order to avoid having 49ers fans commandeer SoFi Stadium (again).
At the media held in connection with the September 10 here (September 11 there) game, Goodell shrugged at Shanahan’s concerns.
“Coaches have a focus on winning,” Goodell said. “That’s their number one job. And so Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach, but also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win. His job is to play. And I always say coaches like to play at 1 o’clock and 4 o’clock — and don’t get in the way of that.
“So we’re gonna make it a great experience for the team. That’s one of the things we focus on, everybody here, and so many others have focused on, make it a great experience for everyone, the team included. When they go back, they’ve got to make sure that they’re able to continue the competitiveness, because this game is real. This counts. And they’ll go on to Week Two as soon as they leave here.”
It’s one thing to have a game moved out of the Sunday afternoon window. It’s another to have it moved to a different house on a different street in a different continent. Especially to start the season.
After the Thursday (Friday) game, both teams will travel home through 19 time zones. They’ll have a game the following Sunday. Unless one of them gets a Monday night game to cap Week 2 — and one of them absolutely should.
The fact that Shanahan dared to share his reasonable gripes publicly likely guarantees that one of them will. And that it will likely be the Rams.
There’s no hard evidence to support the idea that 49ers players are more susceptible to injuries because they practice near an electrical substation. But that doesn’t stop people from asking questions. And 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk thinks those questions should be asked.
After 49ers General Manager John Lynch said the team hired an independent expert and found there’s no connection between the electrical substation and player injuries, Juszczyk sounds satisfied. But he also thinks it’s reasonable for players to have their concerns.
“I don’t stand next to the microwave while it’s on. Who knows if that does anything to you. But if there’s any chance or inkling or thought process that maybe it has a 1 percent affect on you, I’m going to avoid it,” Juszczyk told Jim Rome. “I’m happy that John said they did some studies and it was a big nothing burger. I would love to hear more about it.”
Juszczyk says he heard a lot of opinions from people who had their own ideas about whether or not there’s any merit to the substation theory.
“It was a very entertaining talking point, one of those things I had everybody asking me about,” he said. “I think it’s OK to be skeptical and ask questions. I don’t think that means I have a tinfoil hat on. The fact that they did science, looked into it and found nothing.”
For his own part, Juszczyk has only missed seven games in his 13-year NFL career.
“It hasn’t affected me too much,” he said. “I’ve been pretty damn healthy since I’ve been in San Francisco.”
Free agent cornerback Jack Jones’ visit to the 49ers apparently went well.
Jones, 28, has agreed to terms with the team after his visit to San Francisco today, according to multiple reports.
He spent last season in Miami, starting all 17 games for the Dolphins and playing 980 defensive snaps. He totaled 77 tackles, an interception, six pass breakups and two forced fumbles.
The Patriots made Jones a fourth-round pick in 2022, and he moved on to the Raiders after New England waived him in November 2023.
He had 136 tackles, seven interceptions, four interception return touchdowns, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery before getting to Miami.
Jones has appeared in 59 games with 38 starts in his career.
