SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are anticipating Brock Purdy’s return to the field for Sunday’s Week 11 game against the Arizona Cardinals, and Christian McCaffrey has taken note of the quarterback’s progress since he aggravated his turf toe injury in Week 4. 

“He looks like Brock,” McCaffrey said Wednesday. “He’s out there throwing it well, he’s running well. Looks like himself.” 

Purdy has not been a full participant in a practice since before San Francisco’s Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Coach Kyle Shanahan shared that even though the quarterback was set to be “limited” in Wednesday’s session, that would not keep Purdy from having an “aggressive” practice. 

Shanahan believes that after missing six consecutive weeks, Purdy is ready to return. 

“You can just feel it,” Shanahan said. “A guy you’ve been around for a while, like I have Brock, you can just feel how the ball comes off, how he moves, how he reacts. I can get in the film room and stare at it for a lot longer than I probably should. I could do that on the field, but I watch other things. But usually, you can feel it on the field.”

Purdy has missed the 49ers last six games, but he has been practicing in a limited fashion for weeks, allowing the quarterback to throw passes to his running backs and receivers. Even running the scout team offense as the role of Matthew Stafford in the team’s preparation for Week 10 has helped Purdy stay in tune with his teammates. 

On Wednesday, after weeks of following Mac Jones in the order of quarterback warmup throws, Purdy took the first reps in all drills during the open portion of practice. 

Shanahan did not mince words when asked if the Iowa State product would be building up his rep count and stamina in practice this week to prepare him to start in Arizona on Sunday, simply replying, “Yes.”  

McCaffrey has no doubt that Purdy will be ready when the time comes. 

“All of the timing stuff that we’ve been running all season, he’s been practicing,” McCaffrey said. “Plus he’s a ball player so when it comes to timing, that will be there.”

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