The NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles following the 2022 season was a disaster for the San Francisco 49ers. Then-rookie Brock Purdy was starting only because the two quarterbacks ahead of him on the depth chart were injured.
The 49ers entered the game with Purdy and Josh Johnson as the active quarterbacks. Both ended up injured. Purdy suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow early, and later, Johnson was sidelined with a head injury, forcing Purdy, who could not attempt a pass, to re-enter the game.
As a result, the Eagles dominated, defeating the 49ers 31-7 and advancing to the Super Bowl.
Does that nightmare scenario at Lincoln Financial Field influence head coach Kyle Shanahan to consider suiting up three quarterbacks on Sunday when the 49ers return to Philadelphia for a Wild Card playoff game?
"If I did, that would be the same consideration every week," Shanahan said on Wednesday. "I don't really chalk it up to that only happens in Philly."
When asked if there is any chance of making a third quarterback active for the game, Shanahan was clear.
"No," he said. "I mean, that would take us down somewhere else, and with that rule that you don't get an extra player, I don't know anyone who can ever choose that, really, unless you're playing with someone who's really injured and you don't think they'll make it through the game.
"But to play with one less player throughout the game because of something that, for me, has happened once in 23 years, and other people I've worked with, once in 45 years, just probably wouldn't be the best odds."
So it will just be Purdy and Mac Jones on Sunday. Purdy suffered a shoulder stinger late in the 49ers' Week 18 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. However, the quarterback has felt good this week.
"Obviously, it sucked finishing the game with that, and having that, but woke up the next day, and today, it feels great," Purdy said.