49ers’ report: Kittle could be headed for I.R., Purdy has toe, shoulder issues; Moody being evaluated

The 49ers got the news they expected Monday on tight end George Kittle, who has a hamstring strain and will miss a “few weeks” with the possibility of going on injured reserve, which would make it at least a four-game absence.

The unexpected news was that quarterback Brock Purdy, whose 4-yard game-winning touchdown pass to Jake Tonges delivered a 17-13 road win over the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, has toe and left shoulder issues from the game that may or may not cause him to miss the 49ers’ Week 2 road assignment against the New Orleans Saints.

Wide receiver Jauan Jennings, coach Kyle Shanahan said, is still being evaluated with a shoulder injury but it’s conceivable he could face the Saints. Shanahan said Jennings’ MRI was “good” and they were awaiting results of a CT scan.

It was also clear from Shanahan’s tone off a conference call with local writers that kicker Jake Moody’s status is being evaluated, and it could result in a change this week. In the immediate aftermath of the Seattle win, Shanahan said there was “no question” Moody would retain his job although he later softened that stance.

Moody missed a 27-yard field goal attempt off the upright and had another blocked.

“We’re looking into all that stuff now,” Shanahan said. “There’s options. Whether to stay the status quo, to bring guys in for a workout, signing someone to practice squad. But we’re going through all that stuff right now.”

Shanahan said he has yet to speak to Moody about the coming week.

“I haven’t had (a conversation) with him yet,” Shanahan said. “I’m not sure which direction we’re going to go, but whenever we decide on something we’ll address it with him.”

Here’s how Shanahan assessed some 49ers issues in the wake of the Week 1 victory:

Kittle: “They tell me a few weeks. In order to (put him on I.R.) it’s got to be four-week injury so I don’t think we’ve decided on that yet.”

Luke Farrell and Tonges picked up the slack in Kittle’s absence, along with fullback Kyle Juszczyk. Brayden Willis will be available to be promoted from the practice squad for the foreseeable future.

Purdy: “I’d say the toe is probably worse than the shoulder. We’re not sure (on his availability) and we’ll see how it heals as the week goes on . . . it has to do with how Brock is over these next 24 hours and throughout the week. That’s stuff we’ll look into.”

Shanahan said the injury occurred when Purdy was driven to the turf in the first half on an incomplete pass to Ricky Pearsall Jr.

Shanahan expressed confidence that backup Mac Jones will be up to the challenge, if called upon to play against New Orleans.

“I think Mac had a really good camp going all the way back to OTAs and training camp,” Shanahan said. “He’s really used to what we do. He had a little setback the last couple weeks of camp with the injury but he had a good week of practice last week. He’ll lead the guys. Guys believe in him and he’ll do his job at a high level.”

Shanahan was non-committal about getting a more experienced quarterback on the practice squad. As it stands, Adrian Martinez would be Jones’ backup if Purdy can’t go.

That being the case, the addition of a another quarterback in conjunction with missed practices by Purdy would indicate there’s a chance he may not play.

Left guard Ben Bartch is dealing with a knee sprain, Shanahan said, and there were no reports on left tackle Trent Williams or running back Christian McCaffrey, so both came through unscathed. Williams left briefly with an undisclosed injury in the first half, and McCaffrey had 31 touches and 142 total yards after going into the game as “questionable” with a calf injury.

ROOKIE WATCH

Shanahan was generally pleased with the performance of 49ers rookies, although there is much room for improvement.

Safety Marques Sigle “flew around, made a lot of plays, had one missed tackle. He didn’t break down at all, shot his guns, and had that fumble recovery,” Shanahan said.

First-round pick Mykel Williams was absent on the stat sheet in terms of tackles, sacks and pressures, but Shanahan was encouraged with his versatility and believes he had an impact in slowing Seattle’s running game.

“We mixed in a bunch of five-man lines and four-man lines, moved around a number of times,” Shanahan said. “But I thought he did a good job in what we asked him to do.”

A.P. PhotoJake Tonges (89) celebrates with Luke Farrell after scoring the game-=winning touchdown Sunday in Seattle.

THE TONGES CATCH

After not getting a good look at the Purdy-to-Tonges play that won the game when it actually happened, here’s how Shanahan described the connection after watching the tape.

“No one was open, and I didn’t think Jake was, but for some reason, Brock did and when he threw it at the end, he proved to us that Jake was open because he made a hell of a play,” Shanahan said.

The Tonges play was well received at Los Gatos High, where he played for coach Mark Krail.

BOURNE AGAIN

Shanahan confirmed the 49ers were bringing back wide receiver Kendrick Bourne, which had yet to be announced by the club.

“We love K.B. from his time here and he did a hell of a job when he was in New England,” Shanahan said. “When he got let go, we tried to bring him back here a couple of weeks ago and weren’t able to quite get it done. It ended up working out for us in the long run. We got him here today, was a team meeting a little bit ago, and we’re pumped to have him back here.”

From 2017-20, Bourne caught 137 passes for 1,769 yards, averaging 12.9 yards per catch with 11 touchdowns for the 49ers.

MCKIVITZ REWARDED

In contrast to some other 49ers contract situations, right tackle Colton McKivitz simply practiced, said little and bided his time until he received a three-year extension worth as much as $45 million.

“Colton has been one of the most reliable guys on our team, really, since (Mike) McGlinchey left in free agency,” Shanahan said. “Colton, to me, is such a good story. He was a fifth-round pick, we cut him once, put him on the practice squad and he ended up coming back and playing for us . . . just the consistency he’s played with and that he gets better each year, I think Colton is one of the true leaders on our team.”

SNAP JUDGMENTS

76: Bartch, McKivitz, center Jake Brendel and Purdy played every offensive snap. Williams and right guard Dominick Puni each missed one snap.

58: McCaffrey touched the ball 31 times when on the field — more than half of his snaps. He played 27 snaps where he wasn’t the receiver/ball carrier.

52: Sigle played every snap in his NFL debut at safety. Also playing every snap were safety Jason Pinnock and linebacker Dee Winters.

39: Rookie first-round pick Mykel Williams played the second-most snaps on the defensive line to the 46 by Nick Bosa. Fellow rookies Alfred Collins and C.J. West had nine and seven snaps, respectively.

30: Tonges played just four fewer snaps than the 34 he had in 20 games with the Chicago Bears (in 2022) and 49ers (2024).

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19: Brian Robinson Jr. had nine carries for 33 yards and caught one pass for four yards in his first game spelling McCaffrey.

3: Skyy Moore, acquired from the Kansas City Chiefs, was in for three plays on offense and nine on special teams. He had four punt returns for 39 yards, with one muff out of bounds, and one kickoff return for 24 yards.

2: Safety Ji’Ayir Brown got in for only two plays on defense with Sigle and Pinnock getting all the work. He played 13 snaps on special teams.