For the second season in a row, the San Francisco 49ers are being hit hard by key injuries. Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk is still out after tearing his ACL and MCL last October, and this past Sunday, quarterback Brock Purdy and tight end George Kittle were forced to sit due to toe and hamstring injuries, respectively.

Kittle is on the injured reserve, which means he will be out until at least Week 6. Purdy could return as early as this coming weekend when the 49ers take on the Arizona Cardinals at Levi’s Stadium.

In the meantime, QB2 Mac Jones filled in ably in their Week 2 matchup with the New Orleans Saints. Despite looking shaky early on, he completed 26 of 39 pass attempts and threw for 279 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 26-21 win.

Purdy has his share of critics, and such critics may claim that continued fine play from Jones could set up a bit of a quarterback controversy in San Francisco. Colin Cowherd, who has frequently been dismissive of Purdy, claimed that a lot of the 25-year-old’s success is “circumstantial” and that

“The good news for San Francisco, they now have two quarterbacks that work. One is probably overpaid and one is absolutely underpaid. But this is what Kyle Shanahan does. Brock is better than Mac Jones. I’m not denying that. Is he 265 million better?

“… Mac Jones has a below-average NFL body. He’s not a great athlete. He’s got an average NFL arm. … San Francisco struggles separating performance from circumstance, and I think a lot of Brock Purdy’s success is circumstantial. It’s because of Shanahan and yesterday proves it.”

Jones was the No. 15 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft after a hugely successful junior year at the University of Alabama, during which he won multiple individual awards and led the Crimson Tide to the national championship.

Ironically, San Francisco, which had given up lots of draft capital to obtain the No. 3 overall pick in 2021, considered using that pick on Jones before taking Trey Lance, who has done almost nothing as a pro player.

Jones made the Pro Bowl and led the New England Patriots to the playoffs as a rookie, but his game has fallen off a cliff ever since. Cowherd pointed out that Sunday’s performance was the best of Jones’ pro career.

The claim that Purdy’s success ever since taking over as the Niners’ QB1 in Week 13 of the 2022 season is “circumstantial” has been made by numerous national pundits. He made the Pro Bowl and led the NFL in passer rating, QBR and touchdown percentage in 2023, but his touchdown percentage and pass completion percentage dipped last year.

However, the counter to Cowherd’s argument that Purdy’s success has been circumstantial is that perhaps the dip in Purdy’s production last year was circumstantial. The Niners had to deal with a gnarly rash of injuries to players such as Aiyuk, star running back Christian McCaffrey and future Hall of Fame left tackle Trent Williams.

In Week 1, Purdy threw two interceptions that kept the Seattle Seahawks in the game. But he led the game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, which he ended with a tough touchdown pass to tight end Jake Tonges. On the day, he completed 26 of 35 pass attempts and had a not-very-terrible 92.2 passer rating.