The 49ers had a first-round playoff bye, and they rested quarterback Brock Purdy in the regular-season finale. So when Purdy steps on the field Saturday against the Packers, it will be his first game in 20 days.
But 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan says Purdy won’t be rusty, because the 49ers have given him a significant workload during his time off from playing against opposing defenses.
“He hasn’t been on a bye week. We pushed the heck out of Brock. Meetings, practice,” Shanahan said. “He’s been here, he’s worked on his days off, we got two bigger practices last week than we do in a normal week, and Brock went out with the guys on Monday and did some things with them. Now we’re going to get two practices in with him again. . . . I don’t worry about that affecting Brock at all for Saturday.”
Coaches whose teams have clinched the playoffs always have to balance keeping their best players healthy with not wanting them to be rusty. Shanahan is confident he made the right call with Purdy.
