The 49ers expect quarterback Brock Purdy to make his return from a shoulder injury in Buffalo, where conditions might be brutal for their Sunday night game against the Bills.
A lake effect snow warning is in place for this weekend in western New York and it currently isn’t set to expire until about an hour before kickoff on Sunday. The 5-6 49ers are bracing for unpredictable weather entering this daunting matchup against the 9-2 Bills, one of the best teams in the NFL.
“I know in Buffalo sometimes it can snow three feet in one spot and not snow 20 minutes away,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday. “So you’ve really got to be ready for anything and deal with whatever it is at 8 [p.m.].”
It’ll almost certainly be windy on the shores of Lake Erie, and that’s entered the 49ers’ calculus with Purdy. Though he’s officially listed as questionable, Shanahan said the quarterback is on track to play after a good week of practice.
“I think everybody struggles to throw in that wind, even when you’re healthy,” Shanahan said. “So it depends on how much, how fast that wind’s going. And I think that’s kind of relevant for anybody. But Brock wouldn’t be playing if he wasn’t 100% at it. So I think the fact that he’s going to be playing means he’s healthy.”
If Purdy does indeed play, this game can be billed as a showdown of two star quarterbacks. Buffalo’s Josh Allen is one of the game’s best — and he grew up a 49ers fan in the San Joaquin Valley town of Firebaugh.
The gym at Firebaugh High School is named after Josh Allen’s grandfather https://t.co/9DoMeRsNlT pic.twitter.com/o0BIbInATO
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) November 29, 2024
Meanwhile, the 49ers will be without their best defender, edge rusher Nick Bosa (oblique), as they combat Allen and Buffalo’s No. 3-ranked offense.
They’ll also remain significantly shorthanded on the offensive side of the football, where left tackle Trent Williams has been ruled out with an ankle injury. Left guard Aaron Banks remains in the concussion protocol, so the 49ers are relying on second-stringers on the entire left side of the offensive line in front of Purdy. Jaylon Moore will start at left tackle, while Nick Zakelj, Ben Bartch, and Spencer Burford are all options to fill in for Banks at left guard.
The 49ers have also ruled out cornerback Deommodore Lenoir and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott. They don’t expect linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who performed well in practice this week in his first action since his February Achilles tear, to return for a game until next week at the earliest — but Shanahan said even that timetable may be unlikely.
“He had a real good week,” Shanahan said of Greenlaw. “It was great for him to get him back out there. It was great for us. We loved having him around, just that first week of coming off an Achilles. I think it’s so crucial for the confidence of a guy. Got a lot of scout-team reps, did a lot of individual stuff with the guys and it was great week and hopefully next week will be even better.”
Despite their 5-6 record, the 49ers only trail the NFC West leaders — the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals, both of whom are on the road this weekend — by one game with six left to play.
That makes Purdy’s likely availability on Sunday a big deal. The 49ers, now 6-point underdogs, now have at least a shot to compete with the Bills. That might not have been true had the quarterback been ruled out, as evidenced by the 38-10 drubbing the team took at the hands of the Green Bay Packers last week without Purdy.
Given the 49ers’ long list of other injuries, winning on Sunday night will likely still require some underdog luck. But, knowing that the NFL is just about as unpredictable as the Buffalo weather at this time of the year, they’ll take their chances.
“Lots of things can happen between now and then,” Shanahan said of Purdy. “But right now, he’s playing.”
Extra point
The 49ers waived second-year wide receiver Ronnie Bell before taking off to Buffalo on Friday. If Bell, a seventh-round pick out of Michigan from the 2023 NFL Draft, clears waivers, the 49ers can re-sign him to their practice squad. Bell mainly performed special teams duties for the 49ers but struggled with drops when called into replacement action at receiver against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3.
The 49ers also released offensive tackle Cameron Erving from the practice squad, replacing him with Sebastian Gutierrez — who’d been with the team earlier this week. With Bell off the 53-man roster, the team has an open roster spot. Erving’s release happened surprisingly quickly as he’d just joined the 49ers on Wednesday, so perhaps he’ll be part of another maneuver by the team.