For most of Brock Purdy’s first four NFL seasons, Kyle Shanahan’s voice has been a familiar presence in his helmet throughout San Francisco 49ers practices.
That routine has changed as Purdy prepares for his fifth year with the 49ers. Shanahan opened training camp watching from the sideline rather than directing the action after a serious July car crash left the San Francisco coach with a concussion.
“He’s our guy,” Purdy said of Shanahan after Monday’s practice. “He’s the one leading all the team meetings and stuff and going over just situational football, what practice is going to look like. He’s our leader. It has been weird in terms of not having that. But I will say I think the assistant coaches have done a good job with stepping up.”
As San Francisco’s starting quarterback, Purdy is usually in constant communication with Shanahan — in meetings, on the field and during practice periods, when the head coach typically relays plays to him by walkie-talkie.
With Shanahan still recovering from the concussion, offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak has taken over those play-calling duties early in camp. Offensive line coach Chris Foerster is overseeing the team while Shanahan is away from his usual role, with support from coordinators Kubiak, Raheem Morris and Brant Boyer.
Purdy said his communication with Shanahan since the July 14 crash has mostly centered on checking in about the coach’s health, along with a brief hug on the practice field Monday.
Shanahan again appeared midway through practice, standing with general manager John Lynch as he watched the final 45 minutes. At one point, he even had to get out of the way of an errant deep throw from Purdy intended for Mike Evans.
“I saw it after and I was like, ‘Damn, I almost hit Kyle,’” Purdy said. “But I was mad we couldn’t complete the throw. … Heads up coach.”
Purdy was able to joke about it in Monday but the emotions were much different when he first heard about it from Shanahan’s wife, Mandy, shortly after the crash. Shanahan suffered a concussion, broken ribs, a broken nose and broken hand in the crash that sent him to the hospital.
Purdy said he initially checked with teammate George Kittle to make sure the news was real and then focused on his coach’s health.
“It hurt really bad just reading that text,” Purdy said. “First off, is he OK? What’s next? How is he and all that? I reached out to him and he hit me back up. Once he texted me back and stuff, I was, all right, he’s good. It’s a scary moment, because all you care about is life at that moment. Is he alive? Is he good? But after hearing Mandy and then what Kyle had said, I was like, all right, Kyle’s good. This is going to be a little process. I don’t know what the road to recovery looks like, but he’s going to be good. That’s all I cared about in that moment. I know he’s good, just seeing him talking to him and stuff. … I have a lot of faith that he’ll bounce back quick.”
Rookie Romello Height Gets Hurt In Practice
Rookie defensive lineman Romello Height was carted off the field after suffering cramps late in practice. Height was attended to for several minutes before being taken off the field on the cart.
Four other players didn’t practice after getting hurt in the first session on Sunday. Swing tackle Vederian Lowe has a high ankle sprain and is expected to miss a chunk of training camp.
Receiver Christian Kirk (calf strain), rookie DL Gracen Halton (bruised knee bone) and DL Andrew Farmer (back) were also out on Monday.
Cornerback Nate Hobbs returned to practice after sitting out the first session on Sunday.
Reporting by the Associated Press.
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