49ers run out of QBs in NFC title game with Brock Purdy, Josh Johnson hurt
© Seth Wenig/AP
Eagles linebacker Haason Reddick knocked 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy out of Sunday's NFC championship game, but Purdy returned after backup quarterback Josh Johnson sustained a head injury.
With a trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the 49ers were all but out of quarterbacks.
Brock Purdy went down. Then Josh Johnson went down. Then Purdy came back in, but he was a QB in name only.
The result was a Niners team that looked like its third- and fourth-string quarterbacks got hurt. The Eagles won in a 31-7 blowout and are headed to the Super Bowl, while the 49ers’ season ended in the conference title game for the second straight year.
Purdy said after the game that he was unsure about the nature of his injury, but he couldn’t throw the ball more than 10 yards. “My arm felt like it stretched out,” he said. “Just shocks all over from my elbow down to my wrist. Just pain all over.” He’ll be examined Monday.
The rookie sensation went down early. Philly pass rusher Haason Reddick twisted his arm back on a passing attempt that was eventually ruled a fumble, and the 49ers announced he was questionable to return with an elbow injury. It appeared that Purdy told head coach Kyle Shanahan “I can’t throw” or “I can’t go” after the injury.
Josh Johnson entered at quarterback for the next series, and Reddick promptly welcomed Johnson to the game with a sack.
Purdy appeared to be cooked, with Fox’s Erin Andrews saying shortly after halftime that Shanahan told her “it sounds like a no” on Purdy’s return. But on the very next drive, Johnson left with a head injury. With no QBs left, Purdy reentered, but he could only hand the ball to backs or dump it off on screens. The 49ers later said Johnson was out for the game with a concussion.
Backs Christian McCaffrey and Kyle Juszczyk are the Niners’ nominal emergency quarterbacks. At one point, McCaffrey switched his helmet before the Niners opted to go with a diminished Purdy under center; McCaffrey and Juszczyk were seen looking at the playbook on the sideline.
Johnson led the Niners to their only touchdown drive but largely struggled, losing a fumble on a shotgun snap and getting whistled for three delay-of-game penalties. He was 7-of-13 for 74 yards when he left with the head injury, with the Eagles already leading 21-7.
With the game totally out of hand with five minutes left, Shanahan finally broke the glass on the McCaffrey option. The running back attempted one long pass out of the wildcat before Purdy got back under center.
Purdy, of course, only got his chance for the Niners after Trey Lance broke his ankle and Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot. But Johnson, an Oakland Tech product, is no stranger to injury call-ups. The journeyman QB has been on an NFL-record 14 teams, including three stints with the Niners and two with Shanahan. He joined this year’s San Francisco team after Garoppolo hurt his foot in December 2022 and the QB room was down to just a healthy Purdy.
The 36-year-old Johnson was more than serviceable in spot starts for the Jets and Ravens last year. In both games, he threw for more than 300 yards, combining for five passing touchdowns in the two outings.
