SANTA CLARA — The 49ers are playing it safe with quarterback Brock Purdy.

And that is putting it very mildly.

San Francisco’s franchise quarterback, who just signed to a five-year, $265 million contract extension in the offseason, has played in just two games this season after suffering a “turf toe” injury in Week 1 that he aggravated in the Week 4 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Purdy has missed the 49ers’ previous six games, including the 42-26 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, a game that he could have been active for if the 49ers needed him to be.

They didn’t. And that’s quite the luxury.

“He could have gone. Definitely,” coach Kyle Shanahan said postgame when asked how close Purdy came to serving as Mac Jones’ backup in Week 10. “I just decided to hold him, not put him in that situation.”

How many other teams in the thick of a playoff race could say that about their starting quarterback?

That’s because Jones, who the 49ers signed to a two-year, $8.4 million free-agent contract this offseason, has been nothing short of a godsend for San Francisco in place of Purdy this season.

Jones was rock-solid again on Sunday, completing 33 of 39 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in the loss.

In eight games this season, Jones has completed 201 of 289 passes (69 percent) for 2,151 yards with 13 touchdowns, six interceptions and one fumble lost.

Jones is averaging 268 passing yards per game, and very well could be leading the NFL in that category had he played all 10 games this season.

Who would have thought?

“No, I did not. Nope, I did not. Nope,” tight end George Kittle said when asked if he anticipated Jones having this much success. “It’s awesome, what a hell of a football player. I get why he was a first-round draft pick. 33-of-39 [passing], whatever the statistic was, that’s a hell of a football game.

“He is playing really well. He’s not like, dangerous, with the football either. He makes good throws. He forces a couple every once in a while, but he’s doing a great job.”

For some outside the organization, the natural reaction to Jones’ success is to juxtapose him, his contract and his availability with Purdy.

Which, for some, begs the question: Do the 49ers have a quarterback controversy on their hands?

Simply put: No. Shanahan and president of football operations/general manager John Lynch have made that crystal clear in recent weeks.

Given that Purdy probably will not fully recover from this toe injury this season, which Shanahan admitted last week, does that mean the 49ers eventually will have to play him knowing that he won’t be 100 percent?

“Yeah, it just depends on how close to 100 percent he gets,” Shanahan explained. “Our dilemma, or what we’re not trying to do, is put him out in a situation we did vs. Jacksonville [six] weeks ago. I do believe he’s closer and further along than he was at that time, so hopefully he will have a chance this week.”

Purdy took more first-team reps in practice this week and appeared to be moving around better. It’s clear he’s getting close to a return, and based on Shanahan’s comments after Sunday’s game, that return is looking like it might be next Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium.