John Lynch Reveals Why 49ers Qb Brock Purdy Didn't Travel To La For Win Vs. Rams

John Lynch reveals why 49ers QB Brock Purdy didn't travel to LA for win vs. Rams originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Star 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy wasn’t in attendance for San Francisco’s thrilling 26-23 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Week 5 of the 2025 NFL season.

Of course, Purdy has been dealing with a nagging turf toe in his right foot, making him not much of an on-field contributor at the moment.

San Francisco general manager John Lynch still thoroughly explained why Purdy didn’t make the in-state trek down to Inglewood in appearing on KNBR’s “Murph and Markus” on Thursday.

“I understand, yeah, he’s our franchise quarterback, and so you’d expect him to travel,” Lynch told KNBR. “I think, sometimes … our trainers and health and performance staff find that when you travel — I think people can feel it in their own experiences — it’s not always necessarily a good thing; things can swell, there’s air pressure, all that kind of stuff.

“We also find [that] you want to maximize every hour of treatment. So, it’s not like these guys are having an extended vacation when they’re here. We leave trainers back here, and we get as much work as we can, and we try to maximize the amount of treatment.”

Purdy is rehabbing a sensitive injury. So, it makes sense to keep the franchise cornerstone out of harm’s way when possible.

Lynch added that backup quarterback Mac Jones’ success helps San Francisco make tough decisions regarding Purdy.

Jones finished the massive win with 33-for-49 with 342 yards and two touchdowns and is 2-0 as the 49ers’ starter.

“Now, we always make a call; with a quarterback, it’s always nice to have Brock for Mac sometimes, to be in his ear, just like Mac would be there for Brock,” Lynch said. “But you have to weigh ‘OK, what’s the positives and what’s the negatives?’ 

“We ultimately made a decision that it was best to leave Brock here. And Brock’s working to the side; he’s working hard to try to get back to full strength. And Mac probably allows that even more so, because we’re winning games while [Purdy’s] getting healthy.”

The 49ers didn’t need Purdy on the field or on the sideline to leave LA with a win. So, in retrospect, Lynch’s explanation makes perfect sense.

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