San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy. Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

Do 49ers still have 'training wheels' on Brock Purdy after return from injury?

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Dec 11, 2025 1:35 PM ET

The San Francisco 49ers improved to 9-4 ahead of their Week 14 bye by notching three straight wins after starting quarterback Brock Purdy returned from a toe injury.

During a Thursday appearance on San Francisco Bay Area sports radio station KNBR, 49ers general manager John Lynch suggested that Purdy showed in San Francisco's 26-8 win over the Cleveland Browns on Nov. 30 that there are no restrictions regarding how the signal-caller can play on Sundays.

Brock Purdy has had "training wheels" removed?

"Just look at the Cleveland game," Lynch explained, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "We're in there, in cold weather, and the first two plays of the game are bootlegs. And so, I think those training wheels have been off. Once Brock came back and played...action shows you better than anything. And so, he did it in practice. But then, how's he going to respond in a game? I think, for Brock — I've been there as a player —you've got to kind of feel it yourself. And early in that first game back, he showed us that he was good."

Against the Browns, Purdy used his legs to score a touchdown before he showed off some impressive dance moves.

PURDY: “I’ve always been able to Dougie, but I haven’t really done it publicly.”

KITTLE: “God forbid a white guy has a little motion.”

Add Brock Purdy’s motion to the list of his slept on attributes. pic.twitter.com/hRx65L6teO
— KNBR (@KNBR) November 30, 2025

Backup Mac Jones went 5-3 across the eight games that Purdy missed, and some previously said the 49ers should've stuck with the hot hand. According to Pro Football Reference, Purdy completed 58-of-87 pass attempts (66.7 percent) for 561 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions over his past three games. He took only two sacks in those outings.

Are 49ers worried about Brock Purdy's health?

"I think it's gotten a little bit better, to the point where no one's thinking about it," Lynch added about Purdy's toe. "I don't want to speak for Brock. He probably still feels it, but he's not thinking about it. It's not affecting the way he's playing anymore. It's certainly not affecting the way [head coach Kyle Shanahan is] calling it. So, yeah, in our mind, he's back."

The 49ers currently possess a wild-card playoff spot, and they trail both the 10-3 Los Angeles Rams and the 10-3 Seattle Seahawks in the NFC West standings. San Francisco next hosts the 2-11 Tennessee Titans in Week 15.

As of Thursday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Niners as 12.5-point favorites for that game.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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