49ers' Brock Purdy remains limited in practice with toe injury, status for Sunday uncertain

Purdy has been able to practice the past three weeks and did travel with the team to Houston last weekend but coach Kyle Shanahan said that Purdy won't play until he feels “confident” about his toe.

“He’s got to go out there and go through the practices and stuff and really let us know how good he feels,” Shanahan said Wednesday. "It’s hard to know what’s going on with the toe and they’re really iffy things. Last time we felt like he was feeling pretty good, looked pretty good in practice, and then in the game, one hit and set him back four weeks. So, it’s kind of a sensitive situation and hopefully getting some reps in practice and stuff will give him that confidence that it’s better than it was last time.”

Mac Jones has started in place of Purdy and has led the Niners to four wins in six starts so far this season.

The 49ers will likely be without receiver Ricky Pearsall for another week because of a knee injury. Pearsall hurt the knee in Week 4 and it was initially expected he wouldn't miss much time. But he has been out the past four games and still isn't healthy enough to practice.

The Niners have also been dealing with several injuries on defense, most notably with linebacker Fred Warner and defensive end Nick Bosa out for the season. San Francisco is also expected to be without defensive ends Bryce Huff and Yetur Gross-Matos this week because of hamstring injuries, and defensive linemen Alfred Collins (shoulder) and Sam Okuayinonu (ankle) also sat out of practice Wednesday and their status is in doubt this week.

The 49ers have added reinforcements this week by finalizing a trade on Wednesday to acquire Keion White from New England in a deal that included a late-round draft swap and signing Clelin Ferrell to the practice squad.

The 26-year-old White had four sacks in the first two games of the 2024 season but hasn’t been very productive since then. He has one sack in his last 20 games and three quarterback pressures on 76 pass rush snaps this season, according to Pro Football Focus.

White joined the team in time for practice Wednesday and got limited reps.

“We need D-linemen with all our guys injured,” Shanahan said. “Regardless, he would have helped any team. I thought he was a problem when we played against him last year. Really liked what he does on film, too.”

Ferrell is in his second stint with the Niners, having spent the 2023 season in San Francisco when he had 3 1/2 sacks in 17 games before getting hurt in the season finale and missing a playoff run that ended in a Super Bowl loss.

“For me it was like coming home,” he said. "There’s a lot of new people in the house, but the cook is still the same.”

Ferrell played one game this season for the Los Angeles Chargers.

In other injury news, center Jake Brendel remains sidelined by an ankle injury and won't play this week. Linebacker Dee Winters (knee) also didn't practice Wednesday, while guard Ben Bartch (ankle), cornerback Upton Stout (shoulder) and defensive tackle Jordan Elliott (ankle) were both limited.

Jennings' status

Receiver Jauan Jennings had asked for a trade over the summer during a contract dispute and hasn't been very productive this season with 18 catches in six games while dealing with several injuries.

With Jennings in the final year of his deal and Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk expected to return in the coming weeks, that has led to speculation of a possible trade before next week's deadline.

Jennings said Wednesday that he “loves playing with this team” and Shanahan downplayed the chances of any trade.

“I’d be very surprised if Jauan wasn’t on our team throughout this year,” he said.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL