Brock Purdy
Steph Chambers/Getty
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 07: Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers looks on during the NFL 2025 game between San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field on September 07, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
With San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy ruled out of the team’s Week 2 matchup against the New Orleans Saints with a toe injury, backup Mac Jones is set to get the start. To serve as Jones’ backup, the Niners are elevating QB Adrian Martinez from the practice squad.
Martinez has never played a single snap in an NFL regular-season game, but he was an MVP in the UFL in 2024 for the Birmingham Stallions. He spent the 2024 season on the Jets’ practice squad and again spent camp in New York this summer. After being cut by the Jets coming out of the preseason, Martinez signed to the 49ers practice squad on August 27.
In his short time in San Francisco, head coach Kyle Shanahan has been impressed by the young quarterback. With Purdy set to potentially miss several more weeks with a turf toe injury, Martinez will serve as the backup quarterback, famously just one play away from being the most important player on the field for San Francisco.
“He’s been good these two weeks learning both these game plans,” Shanahan said on Friday. “Today, I mean this week he got the most reps that he’s got, at least with the scout team. We’re working on everything with him after practice, but nothing is…we’d have to see him in the game. We’re comfortable with him going in and executing. Really liked him here these first two weeks. If it comes to that we’ll be ready to go, though.”
San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan on What the Game Plan Will Be if Adrian Martinez Check Into the Game
Adrian Martinez
Ishika Samant/GettyEAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – AUGUST 22: Adrian Martinez #15 of the New York Jets in action during the first half of a NFL Preseason 2025 game between Philadelphia Eagles and New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on August 22, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images)
“I mean, yeah, you gotta change it a little bit when or if he’d have to go in,” Shanahan said on if the game plan would change with Martinez in the game. “I mean, he’s prepared for it all, but we’ll have an idea of the stuff he likes more than others.”
“We don’t tell him, he’s been here two weeks, so he learns the game plan for the week like everyone else. But you don’t tell a guy, ‘Hey, just take these 10 plays.’ You try to tell him to learn the whole game plan, but I always want to know what he’s most comfortable with, and hopefully we can stick with that, if the game allows us to.”
Adrian Martinez was a Star in College
Martinez may not have seen the field in an NFL game yet, but he was a star in college. He spent four years at Nebraska, starting as a true freshman and totaling 8,491 passing yards and 45 touchdowns to go with 2,301 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns. He transferred to Kansas State for his final season, setting the tone with 1,261 passing yards and six touchdowns, plus 627 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns.
Martinez is an accomplished dual-threat quarterback, someone who’s succeeded at multiple stops in college and in the UFL. Hopefully, he’ll never need to see the field for the Niners. But if he does, Shanahan is confident he can run an effective offense.