49ers-Bengals pregame: Who will block Brock Purdy’s blind side?
SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy’s path to his 16th straight start involved passing through the NFL’s concussion protocol. Keeping him healthy will be a top priority, and one perhaps made more difficult by left tackle Trent Williams’ ankle injury.
Williams will miss his second consecutive game and Jaylon Moore will remain in the lineup for today’s game against the Bengals.
Also inactive for the 49ers is No. 3 quarterback Brandon Allen, defensive tackle Kalia Davis, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, linebacker Jalen Graham, running back Ty Davis-Price and tight end Brayden Willis.
Designated as inactive for Cincinnati were cornerback D.J. Ivey, center Trey Hill, linebacker Akeem Davis-Gaither and offensive tackle Jackson Carman.
Williams has not practiced since spraining his right ankle — and playing through that injury — in the 49ers’ Oct. 15 loss at Cleveland.
Purdy gained medical clearance Saturday, having reported concussion symptoms on the 49ers’ flight home from Monday night’s loss at Minnesota.
Purdy’s 107.2 passer rating ranks second in the NFL behind Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa (110.4). A year ago, Tagovailoa’s season, if not career, seemed in jeopardy; concussion fallout prompted him to miss a month, then he started nine games before a Christmas Day concussion ended his season.
General manager John Lynch, on KNBR 680-AM on Friday, alluded to “the Tua thing” in declining to get into specifics on Purdy’s recovery. Purdy did not practice Wednesday, was limited Thursday and was a full participant in Friday’s walk-through session.
Lynch said he did not know at what point Purdy sustained his head trauma, although most signs point to a fourth-quarter sneak. Lynch and Shanahan were alerted on the flight home about their quarterback’s issues. “I actually got woken up and they said, ‘I just want to let you know Brock’s not feeling well. He reported some symptoms and what-not,’ ” Lynch said on KNBR. “The trainers let us know that and from there, there goes the protocol. As to what it affected, how it affected, I don’t know.
“I’m not sure Brock is sure when it happened. I guess if there’s any good news, he felt relatively soon after that,” Lynch added. “But you have to have the protocol, that’s where he’s at and going through those phases. I’m sorry to be vague. I’m not trying to be evasive. But after the Tua thing last year there really has been an emphasis in not trying to make prognostications and we’ve got to follow that.”
Purdy has not commented on the injury, per NFL concussion protocol prohibiting media interviews.
SAMUEL RECOVERING
Samuel is out a second straight game, as projected once a hairline fracture was revealed in his left shoulder after the Browns game. This marks the 17th game he’s missed since his 2019 rookie season. “He’s doing good,” coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday. “It is a little hairline fracture in his shoulder. So we got to wait for that to heal. But he’s healthy enough everywhere else, so he is conditioning and working out, doing well. Hopefully that’ll be good after the (upcoming) bye week.”
ALUMNI GATHERING
The 49ers’ annual alumni weekend attracted over 100 ex-players, as well as former owner Eddie DeBartolo. Here is a list of the attendees:
Anthony Adams, Dan Audick, Roy Barker, Tomur Barnes, Randy Beisler, Guy Benjamin, Dwaine Board, Steve Bono, Tremaine Brock, Dennis Brown, Ray Brown, Tarell Brown, Junior Bryant, Curtis Buckley, Dan Bunz, Ricky CHurchman, Mike Cofer, Tim Collier, Toi Cook, Earl Cooper, Chris Cooper, Jose Cortez, Perrish Cox, Greg Cox, Roger Craig, Marcus Cromartie, Eric Davis, Steve DeBerg, Quinton Dial, Anthony Dixon, Walt Downing, Riki Ellison, Jim Fahnhorst, Ron Ferrari, Jeff Fuller, Bob Gagliano, Rick Gervais, Larry Grant, Ron Hadley, Merton Hanks, Tim Hanshaw, Willie Harper, Tim Harris, Kenny Harrison, John Harty, Ronnie Heard, Ron Heller, Barry Helton, Dwight Hicks, Ernie Hughes, Ricky Jean-Francois, Kermit Johnson, Cam Johnson, James Jordan, Samuel Kennedy, Allan Kennedy, Bobby Leopold Jr., Eddie Lewis, Jonas Lewis, Marc Logan, Ronnie Lott, John Macaulay, Marcus Martin, Saladin Martin, Milt McColl, Guy McIntyre, Dana McLemore, Rod Milstead, Joe Montana, Joshua Morgan, Hannibal Navies, Joe Nedney, Ray Norton, Phil Ostrowski, Quinton Patton, Ricky Patton, John Paye, Lawrence Pillers, Ted Popson, Darryl Pollard, Eason Ramson, Tom Rathman, Archie Reese, Jerry Rice, Bill Ring, Del Rodgers, Bill Romanowski, Jesse Sapolu, Mike Shumann, Derek Smith, Reginald Smith II, Jim Sniadecki, Adam Snyder, C.J. Spillman, Joe Staley, Donald Strickland, Justin Swift, Harry Sydney III, Curtis Taylor, John Taylor, Chuck Thomas, John Thomas, Keena Turner, Steve Wallace, Mike Walter, Ricky Watters, Jimmy Webb, Ray Wersching, Carlton Williamson, Patrick Willis, Mike Wilson, Troy Wilson, Jamie Winborn, Lee Woodall, Eric Wright, Charlie Young, Bryant Young, Dominique Zeigler.