Andrew Dieb-Imagn Images Your latest Cowboys injury news.  Oh, the drama surrounding the Dallas Cowboys is thick. After limping into the bye week after a dismantling defeat at the hands of the Detroit Lions, the Cowboys refused to go quietly into their week of rest. Last week, owner and general manager Jerry Jones grew very testy on local radio as he was peppered with questions regarding the construction of the roster and a lack of activity in the offseason. Since then, Cowboys fans have had to sit idly as other teams vying for contention added to their rosters, and several veteran receivers were on the move. Davante Adams was reunited with Aaron Rodgers in New York, Amari Cooper was traded to Buffalo, and this morning, DeAndre Hopkins was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Cowboys are expected to do nothing as the trade deadline approaches. Strangely enough, the Cowboys returning to practice on Wednesday feels like a welcome distraction from the soap opera that is the Cowboys Days of our Lives. Here’s where the Cowboys are after their first day of practice this week. #Cowboys injury report vs. 49ers (Wednesday): DaRon Bland, Micah Parsons DNP Eric Kendricks returned to practice in a limited capacity Brandon Aubrey DNP due to jury duty Reminder: Jordan Philips was designated to return from IR earlier (21-day window) Full report: pic.twitter.com/2e7dZsvM3X — Patrik [No C] Walker (@VoiceOfTheStar) October 23, 2024 Although the team is hopeful he can return for this week’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, Micah Parsons was not partaking in the team portion of practice. He was working with the trainers Wednesday. He has an outside shot to return to team activities later in the week, and we’ll see how his involvement progresses. Cowboys’ cornerback DaRon Bland also did not practice. Caelen Carson (shoulder) has been out since Week 3, but had a full practice on Wednesday. Eric Kendricks also was listed as a limited participant as he works back from a calf injury. #49ers pre practice reportDNPK Jake Moody (ankle)WR Deebo Samuel (illness/wrist)WR Jauan Jennings (hip)TE George Kittle (foot)DL Kevin Givens (groin)S George Odum (knee)LT Trent Williams (vet day)LTDDL Nick Bosa (elbow)RB Jordan Mason (shoulder)WR Chris Conley (ankle) — Jennifer Lee Chan – threads @jenniferleechan (@jenniferleechan) October 23, 2024 The 49ers aren’t looking so good on the injury front. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said it would surprise him if Christian McCaffrey played this week. He has to be activated to return from injured reserve. Deebo Samuel (illness/wrist) also did not practice, as he left last week’s game with what was later discovered to be pneumonia. Starters Jordan Mason (ankle) and Nick Bosa (elbow) were limited today. Another key injury to watch for the 49ers will be Jauan Jennings. Jennings missed last week’s game with an hip injury. If he returns, he will be a key factor in this week’s game. He was a DNP to open the week. Lastly, George Kittle was absent from Wednesday’s practice with a sprained foot. It’s not looking so good for the 49ers to open their week of preparation for the Cowboys.

Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Do you think the Cowboys have set Mike McCarthy up poorly or adequately? Things are not going all that well for the Dallas Cowboys. Their record is a mediocre 3-3, but their three wins come against teams with bad quarterbacks, while their three losses have come in a blowout fashion against teams with good quarterbacks. Coming out of their bye week, they are searching for better performances while finding themselves in a dogfight to keep their playoff hopes within reach. That’s a tough spot to be in. The issues with this year’s Cowboys team are plentiful. The offense is sputtering, the defense is muddled, and they have the third-worst turnover differential in the league. And don’t even get us started on the penalties. Currently, the offense is ranked 20th in points scored while the defense ranks 31st in points allowed. This is the first time in the last 20 seasons that the offense and defense are ranked 20th or worse. Think about that for a moment. Even when the Cowboys lost Tony Romo in 2010, Romo again in 2015, and Dak Prescott in 2020, they’ve never been this bad on both sides of the ball. That’s what makes this season so hard to understand. Prescott is healthy, but the offense is still having issues. The defense has been banged up, but to be fair, they were bad before players started getting hurt. Unless the Cowboys turn a corner, this likely will be the last season with Mike McCarthy as their head coach. Some fans will say it’s long overdue and say good riddance, while others feel a little bad for the guy believing the front office set him up for failure. Which side of the fence do you stand on? One could make a strong case that McCarthy has had it considerably better than many of the head coaches before him. He’s had a good quarterback and better defenses, and the overall roster talent has been better. Let’s examine. A good quarterback The Cowboys have been lucky to have a good quarterback for nearly 20 years. Tony Romo took over the starting QB job from Drew Bledsoe in 2006, and then Dak Prescott took over for Romo in 2016. Both quarterbacks can be considered blessings as Romo was an undrafted free agent and Prescott a late fourth-round compensatory pick. People will debate which player was the better quarterback, but these two guys are comparable. You could argue that the early Romo years contained some cringeworthy moments as the former Cowboys quarterback had a flair for the dramatic. His play might have had a little more variation, but the overall body of work between these quarterbacks looks eerily similar. QUARTERBACK GAMES RATING COMP % TD % INT % YARDS/GAME Tony Romo 127 97.1 65.3% 5.7% 2.7 % 219 Dak Prescott 120 98.3 66.8 % 5.1 % 2.0 % 258 Romo finished third in MVP voting in 2014 with a 4% share while Prescott finished second in MVP voting last year with a 30% share. Honestly, it’s splitting hairs, but McCarthy has had an equal to slightly better quarterback than his predecessor. A better defense When Jason Garrett took over the team the Cowboys were a defensive mess. He was stuck with Rob Ryan for the first two seasons (a Jerry Jones hire) and then Monte Kiffin the following year. The Cowboys’ defense allowed the most total yards in the league in 2013. It wasn’t pretty. Things improved when Rod Marinelli showed up. The defense finished in the top half in points allowed in each of Marinelli’s years as defensive coordinator. They even finished inside the top seven twice. They were good, but not great. When McCarthy took over, he brought over Mike Nolan, who had been the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers the last year McCarthy was an offensive coordinator. Under Nolan the Cowboys’ defense was atrocious, allowing a franchise-most 473 points in 2020. Nolan was quickly fired and the team received a godsend in Dan Quinn. The Cowboys’ defense finished in the top seven in points allowed in all three of Quinn’s seasons with the team. They led the league in turnovers twice. While it wasn’t perfect, Quinn created a legit defensive presence, which had been lacking in this team since the Jimmy Johnson era. McCarthy had a huge advantage over Garrett in this area. In fact, there have been times in recent years when the defense has been the strength of the team which is crazy to think about considering how much of the heavy lifting the offense had to do in the Garrett era. The Cowboys had balance. In all three of Quinn’s seasons in Dallas, the Cowboys finished in the top 10 in both points scored and allowed. That happened just once with Garrett (2016) and not again until the ‘90s Cowboys. Better overall talent Quinn was a big part of the defensive improvement for the Cowboys, but they also had some stronger players. The team featured several All-Pro players spread out over all levels of the defense. The arrival of Micah Parsons has given the Cowboys one of the best defensive players in the league. DeMarcus Lawrence is also in the trenches which matches what the team had in that other DeMarcus, DeMarcus Ware during his final years in Dallas. The defense also has two All-Pro cornerbacks and a plethora of depth. On offense, they’ve remained a talented group. Besides transitioning from one good quarterback to another, the team has gone from Dez Bryant to Amari Cooper to CeeDee Lamb at wide receiver. The offensive line isn’t always perfect, but they always seem to have a good group with core All-Pros. Except for this year, the offense has always had good running backs starting from DeMarco Murray, then Ezekiel Elliott, and then Tony Pollard. Not only do the Cowboys have a good list of star players, but their depth in recent years has been miles better than what they’ve had

Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images Dallas Cowboys team facility tours are (shocker here) apparently something that players do not enjoy all too much. When you are winning in the NFL, life is relatively good. Unfortunately, the opposite holds true as well. It is well-known that the Dallas Cowboys have not done much serious winning since before Marvin Harrison (as in Sr., not his rookie son playing for the Arizona Cardinals) was playing in the league. Their Super Bowl and NFC Championship Game appearance droughts are well-documented and serve as high points of frustration every time they fall short of those bars. As a result of this when the team stumbles out of the gate the way that they have this season, everything tends to feel more intense. The intensity in question was originally born after the franchise’s latest playoff loss this past January and just two months after that a former player, Dalton Schultz, took it to a new level when he called the environment around the Cowboys distracting and focused on the overall brand more than anything. The crux of Schultz’s comments was on tours of the Cowboys’ team facility that take place while the team is working, lifting weights and preparing in general. Schultz noted that this specific thing was distracting which ignited debate about them in general and whether the team (and more specifically owner, president and general manager Jerry Jones) was focused on winning more than brand and what not the way that Dalton implied. With morale as low it has been in some time surrounding the Cowboys, the team facility tours have come under fire yet again. Former players Jayron Kearse, Dorance Armstrong, Tony Pollard, Kelvin Joseph and Dante Fowler Jr. all were quoted by ESPN in a lengthy story published on Wednesday by Kalyn Kahler. In the story Kahler went into explicit detail about the tours, what is accessible during them, the commentary that random fans had throughout the experience and much more. It is very much worth your time. The story has a quote from former safety Jayron Kearse that references Schultz specifically where he mentions that the tours weren’t the reason why Dallas failed during his time with the team, but that they are certainly distracting. “We have 24/7 access to the facility, and it should be a place of solitude,” said a recent former player who requested anonymity to discuss the topic freely. “I come in for extra work at night, to use the hot and cold tub, and there’s fans walking through, poking out at you.” “You’re walking by the tour guide, and they’re pulling [the fans] to the side, and you hear them say, ‘Oh that’s CeeDee Lamb, that’s CeeDee!’” says former Dallas safety Jayron Kearse, starter on the three straight 12-win teams. “Like Dalton said, it’s kind of like you’re in a zoo and kids are going to see a lion. That’s not a reason why we didn’t get over that hump. But I just don’t think that really equates to winning. That has nothing to do with us winning the game.” There are mentions of Jerry Jones’ defense of the tours several times throughout the story where he notes that they existed even during the team’s last Super Bowl run and that the Cowboys have been among the most successful teams (his words) in the NFL since the dawn of The Star in 2016 which elevated things like this to an entirely different level. Basically any idea of it all changing is silly. As noted though, there were mentions of fans gawking (an aggressive word) at players, including the injured Micah Parsons. Kahler noted at the beginning of this story that it was the Saturday before the Cowboys hosted the Detroit Lions and obviously in that time Parsons was (and is still currently) dealing with a high-ankle sprain. He could not do so privately, though. A few minutes later, the tour guide pauses his speech while the group is stopped at the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders exhibit. “Make way for this gentleman, please.” The fans back up, and Parsons slowly hobbles past them. “Oh my god, he’s limping,” one woman whispers. “That looks like it’s going to be a few more weeks until he can play again,” another says. Parsons doesn’t acknowledge the fans, nor does he look bothered by the attention. But the recent former player who requested anonymity says the tours can be exhausting because the players always have to be on, even on a Saturday afternoon when their work before the game is done. Whether or not you would personally find any or some of this to be distracting is one thing. It should be reinforced that Kearse at the very least mentioned that while this all is a thing that it was not any sort of excuse for the team failing in the playoffs. But consider the names mentioned up top, recent players of the team, who all spoke about this in their own words. “I’m smiling … when I walk in the building here, I just know, like, I just have work,” said six-year Cowboys defensive end Dorance Armstrong of his new team, the Washington Commanders. “This is more about football, just X’s and O’s,” running back Tony Pollard, who spent five seasons with the Cowboys, says about his new team, the Tennessee Titans. “I’m in a better place mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, just all around.” “Over here [Kansas City] … the point is the football and winning championships,” says cornerback Kelvin Joseph, who was with the Cowboys for two seasons before moving to the Chiefs this offseason (He is now a member of the Colts). “There [in Dallas], it was a lot of football and like, other stuff.” “You got real facilities here,” says defensive end Dante Fowler Jr., who spent two years in Dallas and now plays for the Commanders. “You might not see tourists coming around, but it keeps the main thing the main thing.” It is certainly easy

Photo by Andrew Dieb/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The latest news around your Dallas Cowboys Jake Ferguson ‘trusts the process’ will pay off for Cowboys after rough start – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com The Dallas Cowboys tight end spoke about how the team can put their rough start in the rearview mirror. “I think, after that game, we came in and cleaned up,” said the Pro Bowl tight end. “After that Detroit game, we really got down to it. Then [we] had a couple more meetings after that, and then kind of flushed it like, ‘OK, stop thinking about football for a couple of days. Make sure your body does get right.’” For Ferguson, that involved some added rest for a mild MCL sprain that cost him one of the six contests – making it clear “if I’m not 100 percent right now, I’m at least 99”. Physically, that’s great news for the Cowboys, but it doesn’t change the fact the offense remains disjointed in the red zone, where most of their stalls and turnovers have occurred since Week 1. Each giveaway and/or failure to score a touchdown is a teaching tool but, for Ferguson, it’s not about overhauling the entire classroom. “I think that’s important every week — having a flush win or lose,” he said. “It’s the NFL. You are going to play one of the best guys on the best 32 teams and you’ve got to be sharp with whatever you’re doing. So you can’t sleep, you can’t say, ‘Oh, we won this week. It’s going to be good. Oh, we lost this week. I got to do this much stuff.’ “No, stay on your process, add a little stuff here and there, but don’t make it too crazy or don’t try to go the extra mile. Stay on your process, trust it.” Troy Aikman subtly shades Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones for not signing Derrick Henry – Brandon Contes, Awful Announcing The Cowboys front office continues to lose on any conversations around Derrick Henry. Troy Aikman might love the Dallas Cowboys, but the Hall-of-Fame quarterback has been delivering some tough love in recent weeks. During a radio appearance on The Ticket in Dallas last week, Aikman called out the Cowboys wide receiving core for running “lazy” routes off the line of scrimmage, a criticism head coach Mike McCarthy was later asked to respond to. And although the Cowboys weren’t playing during Monday Night Football, Aikman still appeared to take a subtle jab at his old team while calling the game between the Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers on ESPN. With Baltimore leading Tampa Bay 27-10 late in the third quarter, Ravens 30-year-old running back Derrick Henry took off for an 81-yard run. “There’s gotta be a lot of teams out there who had opportunities to bring in Derrick Henry that are kinda kicking themselves for not doing it.” – Troy Aikman pic.twitter.com/cKJhBC6yWR — Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 22, 2024 “There’s gotta be a lot of teams out there who had opportunities to bring in Derrick Henry that are kinda kicking themselves for not doing it,” Aikman said shortly after Henry’s big gain. Aikman didn’t name any teams directly, but he didn’t need to. It’s the Cowboys. They’re the team who had an opportunity to bring Henry in that should undoubtedly be kicking themselves for not doing so. Henry appeared on The Pivot Podcast earlier this year and stated signing with Dallas, where he lives, would’ve been the “perfect situation.” But according to Henry, the Cowboys “never reached out.” 10 fairytale trades ahead of the 2024 NFL trade deadline – Bradley Locker, Pro Football Focus Dallas isn’t likely to trade for anyone at the deadline, but it’s fun to imagine a reality in which they do and for whom. RB Travis Etienne Jr. to the Cowboys The Jaguars have remained one of the most confusing teams in the NFL over the last two years, and things appear to have hit a boiling point under Doug Pederson. What should be a playoff-caliber roster is now a disjointed team, and that likely means pieces will be moved. Jacksonville sits eighth in rushing EPA per play, in part due to the breakout of Tank Bigsby, whose 82.5 rushing grade ranks ninth among players with 50-plus carries. In turn, Etienne could be expendable. Etienne hasn’t looked as effective in 2024. His rushing grade has dropped 13 points; only eight of his 55 carries have gone for 10-plus yards; and his Elusiveness ranks 42nd out of 50 ‘backs with 30-plus carries. Still, a team that would love adding a player like Etienne is the Cowboys. Dallas’ rushing game has been woeful all season, ranking 29th in team rushing grade with the second-fewest explosive rushes in the NFL. The combination of Rico Dowdle and Ezekiel Elliott has fared as most expected, with neither recording a running grade above 69.0. Given that Etienne is only under contract for one more year, the odds of Jacksonville trading him are higher than others on this list. If he were to be dealt, Jerry Jones would definitely be lining up. In return to radio, Jerry Jones made it clear these Dallas Cowboys are not in a good place – Calvin Watkins, Dallas Morning News Owner Jerry Jones shares his thoughts after sitting on the team’s 3-3 record during the bye. “Our situation is more about, frankly, it’s more about holding your blocks, it’s more about not making mistakes,” he said. “It’s more about, in my mind, the receivers running through a tough man-to-man coverage and running on through it, and, if you will, get away from that. The types of things that we all think we should be looking at is [are] we designing bad plays or we’re designing bad concepts? The facts are that there’s some of that, but there’s also some of execution. There are some of the talent. I like our talent. I really do like our talent. I like our young talent, but

Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images We are starting to get to the serious time of year in the NFL, once we pass through Halloween and the time changes that will be made rather official. Only a single NFL week separates us until this is the case, and we are now able to fully and legitimately figure many different things out. The Detroit Lions remain the talk of the town while the New York Jets continue to flounder and float in the abyss. While the Dallas Cowboys did not play a game last week during their bye, they certainly took different kinds of losses through the media and with comments made by people ranging from Jerry Jones to Troy Aikman. It has been that kind of season. Comments aside, we are still able to rank all of the teams in the league as we think they stack up which is exactly what we have done with our latest power rankings. As always we have also collected where outlets around the internet have the Cowboys ranked. You can view last week’s rankings right here. 1 – Detroit Lions (LW: 3) A big rule of mine is that the reigning king maintains all privileges of royalty until someone snatches the crown. Obviously the Chiefs have yet to lose a game this season, but they have been so not-the-Chiefs on offense lately that I have to break my own rule. The Lions appear to be the best team in the league as Halloween approaches. Beyond having so much talent on their roster they also have an insanely creative offensive play-caller as well as a head coach who manages and marries it all so well together. 2 – Baltimore Ravens (LW: 2) I’m just going to go ahead and break my rule again since the Ravens look that good. Baltimore has the most dynamic backfield in the entire game right now between Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry. Consider that even Troy Aikman is annoyed that the Cowboys didn’t pursue Henry. They are one of one right now. I recognize this is not bold, but barring any significant changes to the status quo I do not see how they do not win the Super Bowl. 3 – Kansas City Chiefs (LW: 1) No apologies should be given for being undefeated, but we are fooling ourselves if we call them the best team in the NFL at the moment. History highly suggests that they will figure it out. But for now this is the case. 4 – Buffalo Bills (LW: 6) Sunday was a bit of an ugly win for Buffalo, but once again nobody ever hated any one of those. Amari Cooper flashed (sigh) and Josh Allen continues to take care of the football this season. Maybe this really is the year. 5 – Minnesota Vikings (LW: 4) There is no shame in losing to one of the very best teams in the NFL (unless the loss is by a final score of 47-9) and the Vikings came within an inch or so of winning that game. It feels like the football world has collectively underrated the work that the Vikings have done for the last few years (remember all the discourse around their 2022 season?). Perhaps the time has come to acknowledge that they are very good. 6 – Washington Commanders (LW: 7) While Jayden Daniels’ injury status is worth monitoring it is very clear that this is quite the football team. A reminder that the Washington franchise is the only one with a longer NFC Championship Game drought than the Cowboys’. 7 – Green Bay Packers (LW: 8) The start of the season felt so fragile with how the Packers seemed to almost lose their quarterback for its entirety. But Jordan Love is looking to be like a tried and true franchise quarterback in every single sense. He had turnovers and the team needed to rally, but it appears as if they are incredibly well-rounded. 8 – Houston Texans (LW: 5) While the Texans are clearly a solid team they are starting to experience some serious offensive funk. Bobby Slowik was a hot name this time last year, but maybe he is the branch of the Kyle Shanahan tree with the least amount of fruit on it. 9 – Philadelphia Eagles (LW: 15) Early on it looked like they would have classic “a win is a win” energy going on, but they found themselves and quickly buried the Giants in serious fashion. It feels like many people believe that the Commanders are the team to beat in the NFC East (what a weird sentence), but the Eagles are hanging tough and making sure they will be around at season’s end. It is very annoying. 10 – San Francisco 49ers (LW: 9) There is no question that this is the lowest any of us have thought of the 49ers in this nucleus’ time together and it is hard for that to not be the case. Beyond missing key players they are also no longer (seemingly) as creative as they once were. They are spiraling at the moment and are either going to get right against the Cowboys or be fully broken by the little brother who they have tormented for so long. 11 – Chicago Bears (LW: 11) Back from the bye just like the Cowboys. Let’s see what they look like. 12 – Seattle Seahawks (LW: 14) This is one of the most underrated offenses in the entire NFL at the moment. Geno Smith, Kenneth Walker III, D.K. Metcalf and Jaxon Smith-Njigba make up quite the group to work with and around. I would not count them out. 13 – Arizona Cardinals (LW: 13) I’ve said before that I am fine buying all of the Cardinals stock that I can. Monday night was not super pretty, but they are hanging around and the world continues to underrate Kyler Murray’s abilities. I’m in! 14 – Pittsburgh Steelers (LW: 18) Sunday night

Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images Updates from the Cowboys’ next opponent, the 49ers Kyle Shanahan Appeared to Chew Out 49ers QB Brock Purdy After Loss – Grant Cohn, Sports Illustrated The QB-Coach connection seemed a bit strained after San Francisco’s loss to the Chiefs. SANTA CLARA — Kyle did something strange after the 49ers lost 28-18 to the Chiefs on Sunday. After his postgame press conference, he walked straight over to Brock Purdy at his locker and appeared to chew him out quietly for at least five minutes. Shanahan didn’t yell because he clearly didn’t want the media to hear what he was saying, but he waved his arms and pointed his fingers and seemed exasperated. You didn’t have to be a body language expert to see he was upset and talking in a stern way. Purdy stood and faced Shanahan and nodded every few seconds like a good soldier but didn’t speak. Eventually, the two shook hands and Shanahan left. A few minutes later, Purdy walked to the podium for his postgame press conference. So I asked him what Shanahan said to him at his locker. “We were just talking about some stuff throughout the game and just some moments throughout it and stuff and how we can get better and going forward,” Purdy said. “It was really just that.” It’s certainly possible that Shanahan was talking constructively about ways in which both he and Purdy can improve together. But that’s not what the interaction looked like. The way Shanahan gesticulated as he spoke, he created the appearance that he was singling out Purdy for his mistakes and essentially blaming him for the loss. Coaching him up. And he did this in front of Purdy’s teammates and media members that might have put the responsibility for the terrible loss on Shanahan’s shoulders considering Andy Reid owns him. Purdy seemed humiliated. This is why players don’t appreciate getting called out in locker rooms by coaches after losses. Those conversations should be private. 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk tears ACL, MCL; Deebo Samuel in hospital – Nick Wagoner, ESPN Injuries are ravaging the 49ers’ star players. SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Less than 24 hours after wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk injured his right knee against the Kansas City Chiefs, the San Francisco 49ers got the bad news they were expecting. Aiyuk tore the anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee, which will require surgery and end his 2024 season after just seven games, coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday. What’s more, the illness that limited wideout Deebo Samuel to four snaps against the Chiefs is technically a form of pneumonia, according to Shanahan. Samuel has some fluid buildup in his lungs and remains in a local hospital after checking in Sunday night. “I think it started acting up in the middle of the night Saturday night or early Sunday morning and then it just kind of evolved as the day went,” Shanahan said of Samuel. “Once we found out he had the fluid in his lungs and stuff after the game, then I believe they sent him over there.” Shanahan said there’s no timeline yet for when Samuel could return, though that should clarify over the next few days. Aiyuk, meanwhile, is not expected back at all this season. Further tests confirmed Monday what Shanahan was expecting Sunday night. After a 28-18 home loss to the Chiefs, Shanahan said all signs pointed toward a torn ACL but a closer look was still needed and that the Niners were “praying” they were wrong. They weren’t. Aiyuk’s injury happened with 48 seconds left in the second quarter. Quarterback Brock Purdy squeezed a pass to Aiyuk between Kansas City defensive backs Chamarri Conner and Trent McDuffie for a gain of 15 yards. As Conner and McDuffie converged on Aiyuk, his knee appeared to hyperextend. Niners medical personnel immediately ran on the field to tend to Aiyuk, who stayed down for a couple of minutes before slowly limping to the sideline and the blue medical tent. He was soon taken to the locker room on a cart. NFL exec: 49ers face tough decision on Brock Purdy – David Bonilla, 49ersWebZone.com A contract extension looming presents a difficult situation for San Francisco. The San Francisco 49ers are now 3-4 on the season, and quarterback Brock Purdy is coming off one of the worst performances of his career. He threw three interceptions in Sunday’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs—only the second time he’s thrown three or more in a game, the first being last Christmas against the Baltimore Ravens when he tossed four. His 36.7 passer rating was abysmal, marking his lowest as a starter. The 49ers will need to make a decision on Purdy after this season. Many believe there’s no actual decision to be made—San Francisco should make Purdy one of the highest-paid players in the NFL, if not the highest. Such a move will limit the team’s flexibility at other positions. Until now, the 49ers have benefited from having minimal salary cap impact from their quarterback. An unnamed NFL executive speculated on the team’s options given their aging core of key players. As Mike Sando of The Athletic points out, the 49ers have the NFL’s third-oldest roster by snap-weighted average age, thanks in part to paying top dollar to retain key veterans. Players like Trent Williams (36) and George Kittle (31) are still highly productive but come at a high cost. “They need to make a decision about whether they should just be moving on from this older core and building around Purdy, or do they trade Purdy, get stuff for him and go with a cheaper option at quarterback?” the executive told Sando. Finding a reliable starting quarterback in the NFL is no easy task, and it would seem risky to start the search over, especially after years of fumbling around with Brian Hoyer, C.J. Beathard, Nick Mullens, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Trey Lance. Speaking of Lance, his acquisition cost the 49ers several first-round picks,