Quarterback Brock Purdy will not be available to play in the 49ers’ season finale against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
And the 49ers are not going to push it with some of their other top veteran players who enter the final game of the season dealing with injury concerns.
“With it being a short week, and where we're at here being the last game of the season, we're not going to ask guys to play through some injuries and stuff like that,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
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The 49ers are locked into last place in the NFC West with a 6-10 record. They will be home for the playoffs for only the second time in six seasons.
But the game must go on, and so must our series of Five 49ers to Watch:
K Jake Moody
Yes, Jake Moody still is the 49ers’ kicker.
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The organization is not giving up on him after he has experienced a tremendous slump over the past eight games. During that time, Moody has made just 10 of 18 field-goal attempts. He is 1-for-5 on kicks of 50 yards or greater during that period.
Moody admitted his confidence was at an all-time low Monday night when he missed two field-goal attempts and an extra point in the 49ers’ six-point loss to the Detroit Lions at Levi’s Stadium.
Moody, a third-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, will undoubtedly face competition next season to hold onto his job next season.
LB Fred Warner
Linebacker Fred Warner was chosen to the NFC Pro Bowl team for the fourth time in his seven-year career.
And if you think he’s going to call in sick for the final game of the regular season, think again.
"Fred's not a guy who's coming off the field unless we drag him off,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said Friday on KNBR’s Murph and Markus Show.
“That's just kind of who Fred Warner is. When you prepare like Fred does, and you have God-given talent that Fred's been blessed with, and you're obsessed with being there for your teammates, that's the type of player you can become."
Warner got off to a hot start, but an ankle injury slowed him down early in the season. Despite a hairline fracture, Warner made every start this season.
Warner never takes a day off, so he’s always worth watching.
S Talanoa Hufanga
Safety Talanoa Hufanga will complete his fourth season with the 49ers on Sunday. He is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent.
The 49ers would like to re-sign him, but there figures to be a market for his services around the NFL.
He registered seven interceptions in 27 games in 2022 and ’23. He was a first-team All-Pro selection in his second season in the league. But Hufanga does not have a takeaway in six games this season.
He will be tested in coverage and in run support on Sunday against the Cardinals. In early October, he overran Arizona quarterback Kyler Murray as he crashed the line of scrimmage, and Murray turned it into a 50-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game.
After being plagued by injuries the past two seasons, Hufanga would like to enter the offseason on a high note.
WR Jauan Jennings
The 49ers rewarded Jauan Jennings with a two-year extension in the offseason. It was not the kind of deal that Brandon Aiyuk would later receive, but it showed a level of commitment to the former seventh-round draft pick.
And Jennings produced in a big way for the 49ers, clearly becoming their top wideout.
Now, he needs 77 yards in order to break the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career — college or professional.
“It means a lot,” Jennings said of the possibility of reaching 1,000 yards on the season. “I’m not going to take anything away from it. I play receiver. I haven’t played receiver my entire life. I’m a receiver now so I take pride in it. A thousand yards is a thousand yards.”
Jennings has 70 catches for 923 yards and six touchdowns entering Sunday’s season finale.
Purdy is sidelined with an elbow injury, but Jennings already has tremendous chemistry with the quarterback who will take his place. After all, he played college football at Tennessee with Joshua Dobbs.
QB Joshua Dobbs
Dobbs has bounced around to eight different organizations (including two stints with two different teams) since entering the NFL in 2017.
And he could be on the move again after making his first start with the 49ers on Sunday against the Cardinals (one of his former teams).
“Free agency will be free agency so we’ll let that handle itself,” Dobbs answered this week when asked if he would like to return to the 49ers.
Dobbs spent most of the season as the 49ers’ No. 3 quarterback behind Purdy and Brandon Allen. Shanahan said he is going with Dobbs because of his ability as a runner behind a makeshift offensive line.
Dobbs rushed for 421 yards last season in 12 starts with the Cardinals and Vikings. He made his 49ers debut on Monday night after Purdy sustained an elbow injury.
Dobbs completed three of four pass attempts for 35 yards, then scrambled for a 7-yard touchdown run in the 49ers’ 40-34 loss to the Lions.
For Dobbs, this is a tremendous opportunity to make himself a coveted free agent as a backup quarterback with as many as 18 teams around the NFL running some variation of Shanahan’s offensive system.