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Assuming he doesn’t hit any setbacks between now and Sunday, Brock Purdy will be back under center for the 49ers when they face the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Purdy, who missed the past two games with a toe injury, was actually a more involved participant than Mac Jones at Thursday’s practice (Jones has been limited this week with a knee injury).
”I think [the toe] is feeling better each day,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said of Purdy Thursday on KNBR. “If that continues, he should be good on Sunday.”
That sets table for a matchup pairing the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NFL Draft — Jacksonville QB Trevor Lawrence — with the very last pick of the subsequent 2022 draft. That’s Purdy, of course.
Can he help push the 49ers to 4-0? Here are our predictions.
Offensive star of the game
Kawakami: Purdy. The Jaguars’ defense is good against the run and not nearly as good against the pass. Even if the 49ers’ WR corps is down to third stringers, I think Purdy will have some wide-open guys on Sunday and, after he missed the last two games, the pent-up energy to take advantage.
Lombardi: Christian McCaffrey. This will be tough sledding. Jacksonville ranks No. 2 in EPA per play on the defensive side of the ball. The Jaguars lead the league with seven interceptions. Whenever the going gets tough, call up CMC. He’s dominated as a receiver this season and could be close to popping off in the run game, too.
Defensive star of the game
Kawakami: Dee Winters. This just feels like a pick-six kind of game, especially since there’s been a lot of noise this week about the 49ers’ total of zero interceptions over the last 10 games (dating back to the middle of last season). I’ll predict that a Lawrence short pass or two goes awry and that Winters will be best positioned to gobble it up and keep running.
Lombardi: Fred Warner. The star linebacker was emotional when discussing Nick Bosa’s season-ending injury this week. The 49ers know that the replacement effort will require extra contributions from the entire roster; Warner’s propensity to generate (often miraculous) takeaways seems to be a cheat code the 49ers will want to tap into.
The 49ers’ potential X factor
Kawakami: Thomas Morstead. The 49ers, as is their tradition, have given up too many long kick returns and gotten too few. But Morstead’s knack for dropping punts inside the 10 has set up several key moments already so far — and could lead to some Jacksonville errors and quick 49ers points.
Lombardi: Eddy Piñeiro. Let’s keep the special teams theme going. After a disastrous opener in which they yielded about 11 expected points on special teams alone, the 49ers cut Jake Moody, replaced him with Piñeiro and — not coincidentally — have enjoyed two straight victories with positive special teams efficiency. If that continues, they’ll have a very good chance of holding serve as favorites.
The key stat to track
Kawakami: 49ers’ takeaways. I’ve already called a pick-six, so I’d better stick with it. With all their offensive injuries, I don’t see the 49ers’ offense going up and down the field all game. But the defense can almost win this game by itself with two or three takeaways. Even without Nick Bosa, that should be very possible on Sunday.
Lombardi: 49ers’ yards per carry. I’ll continue to keep my eye on this one until the run offense clicks. They’ve yet to hit the coveted four-yard mark here and this is a very good Jacksonville defense. Let’s see how the Jaguars play the 49ers and let’s see if Shanahan’s offense can discover the type of balance it always strives for.
Game prediction
Kawakami: 49ers 23, Jaguars 13. Can the 49ers get to 4-0 without looking great in any of the games? Yes. Jacksonville is 1-9 on the road since the start of last season and this isn’t the Sunday that trend should change.
Lombardi: 49ers 23, Jaguars 20. It’ll be another bar fight. Apologies in advance to your blood pressure. But it’s not 2023 anymore, when the 49ers ripped off a 5-0 start with a bunch of multi-score blowouts. This 2025 team is still finding its sea legs offensively — better health there is a must — while the defense begins the daunting task of replacing Nick Bosa.
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