Shanahan states 49ers QB Purdy will sit vs. Rams; Darnold to start

Shanahan states 49ers QB Purdy will sit vs. Rams; Darnold to start originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Brock Purdy's historic 2023 regular season has officially come to an end.

On Wednesday, coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that Purdy will not play in the 49ers' regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Levi's Stadium.

"No, Brock's the only guy I for sure know I don't plan on playing," Shanahan told reporters.

Shanahan revealed Sam Darnold will start at quarterback in Sunday's matchup with the Rams, who also will be making a quarterback change as Carson Wentz will start in place of Matthew Stafford in the Week 18 tilt between NFC West foes.

While Purdy will miss Sunday's clash with the Rams, Shanahan shared that there will not be any changes to his usual practice routine.

"We're treating this as a normal week," Shanahan explained. "So this is a normal Wednesday this time of year, which means we go half-speed on everything. We don't do anything full speed this time of year on a Wednesday. Brock will get half of the reps with the ones, Sam [Darnold] will get the other.

"I want our team to treat this week as Brock going down on like the first play of the game; that's why I want them both repping it. I want Brock to get some work this week and that's something I'd like us to be ready for if it ever did happen. Thursday, when it's all full-speed, probably give Sam [the] majority of them, we'll talk about that after today. Friday, we're back to walkthrough."

With San Francisco locked into the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed, Purdy will join Christian McCaffrey on the list of key players who will sit out the Week 18 clash against the Rams.

Purdy finishes the 2023 NFL season with a franchise record 4,280 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions across 16 games.

With the announcement that he will miss Sunday's clash with the Rams, the 24-year-old quarterback officially holds the record for the highest single-season yards per attempt (9.6) among quarterbacks with at least 400 passing attempts in NFL history. The only player to average higher yards per attempt in a single season since the merger was St. Louis Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, who averaged 9.9 yards per attempt during the 2000 NFL season.

As San Francisco wraps up its regular season slate of games, Purdy can now focus on the Divisional round matchup that awaits the 49ers as they pursue the sixth Lombardi Trophy that has eluded the franchise for nearly three decades.

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