Brock Purdy’s reps will increase, in due time. The second-year quarterback’s availability this early in training camp was something of a surprise, even to Kyle Shanahan. But he’s been active from the outset.
He’s on a plan that has him throwing two days, then resting two days. That, Shanahan said on Sunday, will change. In roughly a week, Purdy will throw three days on, then rest one day.
“He’s supposed to take to him two days off, so that’s why it’s perfect for him,” Shanahan said. He gets the off day and then he gets the one off today. Now he’ll throw two days in a row. “For a certain amount of days [he goes two on, two off], and then he flips one. I think we do that like six days from now. It’s a thought-out plan. I don’t have to memorize it because it’s all on paper.”
That is consequential not only for Purdy’s ramp up, but for the number of reps available to the rest of the 49ers’ quarterbacks.
Trey Lance and Sam Darnold have been sharing the backup reps, with Darnold taking one more than Lance on Friday and Lance (17 reps) taking one more than Darnold (16 reps) on Sunday.
Also in the fray is Brandon Allen, who took eight reps on Sunday, but had nine on Friday, just two fewer than Lance.
It has begged the question as to why Allen is taking a sizable number of reps if he’s the clear fourth-string quarterback, and what exactly will happen when Purdy is back to practicing three days in a row.
Shanahan seemed to take a bit of issue with the suggestion that Allen was getting too many reps, and indicated his numbers will shrink a bit going forward.
“Two of the days he’s the number three quarterback,” Shanahan said. “He earned them in OTAs. Did a good job in OTAs. Today he was the third quarterback. So he got all the three reps, two of these four practices, which is a good amount. The other guys have been splitting the one and twos and it’ll bump down though when we have four out there more.”
In the past, the fourth quarterback on the roster has been completely cut out of practices, or taken a handful of reps. Allen has taken decidedly more than other quarterbacks in the same position, though Purdy’s rest day is also something new for the 49ers.
For the next couple of blocks, it appears things will remain as they are. But once Purdy’s third day is a day on, things may change.