Getty Image / Thearon W. Henderson
Many around the NFL are saying that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s success this year is due to the outstanding supporting cast around him and the great scheme that he gets to play in. And, we’re going to be able to put that theory to the test, as Purdy seems unlikely to play this weekend against the Bengals.
The news that Purdy had entered the concussion protocol and unlikely to play this week was reported by Adam Schefter on Wednesday afternoon.
“Brock Purdy is now unlikely to play Sunday vs. the Bengals based on this trend: No NFL player placed into concussion protocol this season has played the same week. The last player to be in concussion protocol who played the same week was 2022, when Kenny Pickett had a concussion in week 6 and was cleared to play in week 7,” Schefter said.
Up until the last two weeks, Brock Purdy was having an All-Pro type season, with nine touchdowns and no interceptions along with the league’s best passer rating through the first five games of the season. But, he’s struggled of late, with three interceptions in the last two games, both losses.
If he can’t go on Sunday, it will be the 2018 NFL Draft’s 3rd-overall-pick, Sam Darnold, as the starting quarterback. Darnold spent his first three seasons with the Jets, with hopes he would be the franchise quarterback the Jets have seemingly been looking for for decades. But, things didn’t work out there, and he started seventeen less-than-inspiring games with the Carolina Panthers the last two seasons before signing with the San Francisco 49ers prior to this season.
There’s no doubt that Sam Darnold has some natural talent, and the situations in both New York and Carolina were not conducive to success. Situations don’t get better than the one in San Francisco right now, so if Darnold can’t succeed this weekend against the Bengals, the 26-year-old may simply be a bad NFL quarterback.