As more teams participate in joint scrimmages, they’ve strayed away from playing their starters during the preseason. Brock Purdy played nine snaps in Week 2. Fred Warner, Charvarius Ward, and Talanoa Hufanga saw the field for two series, but it amounted to 12 snaps.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made it clear that Brock Purdy and the starters would play in the preseason finale after Saturday’s win over the Denver Broncos. On Tuesday, Shanahan explained his thought process in playing the first-team this Friday against the Chargers:
“It’s all about having guys ready to play a real football game.