49ers add former MVP QB as backup to Mac Jones with Brock Purdy injured originally appeared on The Sporting News
The San Francisco 49ers find themselves in a position no team wants.
It’s Week 2, and they’re down to their backup quarterback. Brock Purdy is out with a toe injury, and Mac Jones will start.
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They also needed a new backup quarterback, and that’s where a Saturday roster move came into play.
The 49ers have promoted Adrian Martinez to the active roster. If Jones has to leave Sunday’s game, Martinez will make his NFL debut.
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The bright side for the 49ers is that the athletic Martinez won the MVP award in the UFL, showing he can get the job done in professional football, albeit at a lower level of play.
Martinez was a promising recruit when he went to Nebraska out of high school, but he had a few too many turnovers and a few too few wins at the college level to seem like he reached all his potential.
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But he’s grinded it out and has found a way to stick on the fringes of the NFL.
Martinez spent most of the summer with the New York Jets before he was cut and came to San Francisco.
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In Week 1, Martinez was a practice squad player, but the injury to Purdy forced a move.
The 49ers only had the two active roster QBs last week, and that’ll be true again this week, just shifted one spot down on the depth chart.
Kyle Shanahan and company sure would like to keep Jones on the field and not worry about Martinez.
But now Martinez is just one moment away from taking an NFL field. It’s a big moment in his personal journey, that’s for sure.
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