Practice Report: 49ers’ Week 13 Outlook Uncertain Due to Key Player Injuries

Brock Purdy was listed as limited for Wednesday’s practice by San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, suggesting some reason for optimism ahead of their Week 13 matchup with the Buffalo Bills.

But any positive feeling was soon overshadowed by what Purdy actually did in practice, which was to throw two short passes for the section open to the media and then mimic QB movement drills.

Purdy would appear to be following the same plan as last week, when he ultimately did not play against the Green Bay Packers because of a shoulder injury. He did not throw last Wednesday before attempting to do so on the Thursday, only to leave practice after just a few passes. He did not practice on the Friday.

Yet the fact Purdy only threw a couple of passes in this week’s opening practice after a light throwing session on Monday could hardly be seen as a positive for his availability.

Even if Purdy is able to recover in time to face the Bills, right now it seems a long shot that he will have his best pass protector. All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic, was using a scooter to get around the locker room, with walking appearing painful for the 11-time Pro Bowler as he deals with ankle and heel issues.

Like Williams, star pass rusher Nick Bosa did not practice after the missing the blowout loss to the Packers, though he offered a slightly upbeat assessment of his status for the trip to Buffalo.

Bosa said of the multiple hip/oblique injuries that led to him missing the Packers loss: “I made a good amount of progress, for sure.

“It’s feeling a lot better. I still need to get better before I’m ready to go, so this week will be big, and I’ll know a lot more in the next couple of days.”

The 49ers will face a nervous wait over Thanksgiving concerning the status of arguably their three most important players, with Bosa the only one he seems to have made tangible progress in his recovery.

After getting blown out by the Packers, the 49ers desperately need to pull off a big upset in Buffalo. The odds of that happening will be seen as slim even if all three of that trio play but, after the opening practice of the week, their respective statuses paint an especially bleak picture for that primetime matchup.