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SANTA CLARA — Call on the cavalry? Please.
The 49ers’ receiver room may resemble something closer to an emergency room, but Brock Purdy already has all the tools that he needs for the kind of surgery he’s performing.
So long as he’s got Mike Evans, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey at his disposal, the 49ers’ fifth-year quarterback isn’t going to budge from his status as MVP front-runner.
After all, Purdy showed against the Seahawks that you can take away five of his top six receivers and he’s still capable of leading his team down the field when it matters most.
Deebo Samuel went out, and Purdy was still able to carve up the league’s top-ranked passing defense for a go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Now, after learning that Samuel’s hamstring is serious, the 49ers seem content to go ahead with the receivers already in the building.
Does general manager John Lynch have his head in the sand? Quite the opposite, in fact.
He won’t even have to pick up the phone for reinforcements to start to arrive.
That’s because Lynch laid the groundwork this summer. Of course, the 49ers would have loved for Christian Kirk to be ready to contribute by Week 1, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion if De’Zhaun Stribling and Demarcus Robinson hadn’t gotten hurt in Weeks 1 and 2.
But the 49ers have weathered the worst of it.
For all of their 16 players on injured reserve, none has caused the 49ers to lose a game yet.
They’re 5-0 with road wins over the two other best teams in their division.
They have an extra day of rest before hosting the 1-3-1 Commanders on Monday night.
Then, they play one more game in the next 20 days.
By the time Shanahan gets his team together again following their bye week, ahead of their Week 9 showdown against the Raiders (Nov. 8), he should be able to include at least one new receiver in his route trees — possibly more.
Christian Kirk at practice
While it’s unlikely that Kirk is activated in time to be of assistance this week against the Commanders, the 29-year-old free-agent signee practiced Thursday for the first time since the early days of training camp. If he isn’t back by next week’s game in Atlanta, he’s all but certain to be out there after the bye week.
It’s been four years since Kirk played a season at full health, but he showed what he’s capable of with 1,108 yards on 84 catches with the Jaguars in 2022. That would represent a heck of a midseason acquisition, but even if he only reprises his 28 catches for 239 yards in 13 games last season with the Texans, well, the 49ers clearly signed him for a reason.
Kirk injured his calf in the 49ers’ very first practice, effectively setting the tone for what was to follow from the rest of the position. After suffering setbacks early on that pushed back his timeline, he said that in the past week he “got over the hump and started feeling like myself.”
That feeling should be a common one among his peers over the coming weeks.
Robinson suffered a high-ankle sprain in Week 2, an injury that comes with a three- to six-week recovery timetable, which should mean that he will also be good-to-go after the bye.
Stribling’s ankle sprain was more complex, but even he shouldn’t be much further behind. It’s reasonable to think he could return for the 49ers’ Week 12 rematch vs. Seattle in Santa Clara.
So, help is on its way.
And, unlike a trade, tempting as it may be, this won’t cost the 49ers anything.
But more to the point, Purdy isn’t exactly begging for assistance.
He’s leading the league by a wide margin in passer rating despite missing, well, all of the above. When targeting Evans, Kittle or McCaffrey, Purdy is 64-of-87 for 731 yards and seven touchdowns to just one interception — a combined passer rating of 120.4.
The addition of Evans unlocked everything else. The veteran with concerns over his health has been the lone receiver to stay on the field, even in spite of his broken ribs.
So yes, Lynch and the 49ers are sure to be active ahead of the Nov. 11 trade deadline.
But they should be in pursuit of more pressing needs, such as the defensive line.