The San Francisco 49ers will get quarterback Brock Purdy and one of his top targets, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall, back from injury on Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, after both missed six consecutive games.
“I feel really good, healthy, excited to be back and ready to lead the guys,” said Purdy, who missed eight of the past nine games with a lingering toe injury.
Pearsall, who injured the PCL in his knee against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 4, said he feels ready to go but deferred to coach Kyle Shanahan as to whether he would play Sunday. Shanahan told KNBR that Pearsall will indeed play.
Purdy injured his toe in the season opener in Seattle, then aggravated it in his first game back against the Jaguars. He said Thursday he didn’t regret returning against Jacksonville.
“No, going into that week, I felt good, I really did,” he said. “I thought I was going to be good to go. I unfortunately got caught in a bad position with my toe again and re-aggravated it.”
Purdy said he’s been told he won’t need surgery on the toe, and he does not plan to wear any sort of protective steel insert.
“Dropping back and throwing, that’s been pretty good for a while, but to play quarterback in the NFL and to play like myself, I need to move a little bit,” he said. “I wasn’t able to get there for a while. Now I feel ready to go.”
Purdy was upgraded to full participation in Thursday’s practice for the first time since Sept. 26. He had been listed as limited on Wednesday. Pearsall was listed as limited for both practices.
Backup Mac Jones has started the past six games at quarterback, while the team has taken Purdy’s recovery more slowly the second time around. Purdy practiced on a limited basis for the past four weeks and was listed as questionable for the past two games. Shanahan said Purdy was healthy enough to dress Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams as a backup, but he decided not to put the QB in that situation.
Shanahan has reiterated over the past several weeks that Purdy, when healthy, would start ahead of Jones, who is 5-3 as a starter this season.
“It’s not a hard decision. It’s more about Brock’s health,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “It’s been awesome how Mac’s played. He’s been great. But we’ve got a lot of confidence in Brock, and we know Brock will play at a high level too, as long as he’s healthy.”
Added tight end George Kittle on Thursday: “I’m just happy that we have two very talented quarterbacks who can both sling the ball. Looking forward to playing with Brock again, though, because I thoroughly enjoy just his energy and his leadership out there.”
Ricky Pearsall thought he would be back sooner but “is feeling like myself” now. #49ers pic.twitter.com/TGHvQkBqiq
— Vic Tafur (@VicTafur) November 13, 2025
Pearsall, 25, was off to a hot start this season before his injury, totaling 20 catches for a team-high 327 yards through four games. A first-round pick in 2024, he missed the first six games of his rookie season after he was shot in the chest during an attempted robbery. He finished that season strong, totaling 14 catches for 210 yards and two touchdowns in the final two games.
Shanahan said after Pearsall injured his knee in Week 4 that he likely wouldn’t miss much time, but the receiver did not return to practice until this week. Now, Pearsall says he’s feeling like himself again.
“I wouldn’t say there were setbacks, but yeah, I mean, we all expected me to come back earlier,” he said. “But if you look at how PCLs recover, especially skill guys like me, playing receiver … it’s not an easy process to just turn around in a week. Initially, yes, I was telling myself, ‘Come back as quick as possible.’ It just didn’t turn out that way.”