Packers HC Matt LaFleur and his staff have an ace up their sleeve against 49ers' backup QB Brandon Allen
After all, Brock Purdy won't be available to face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback has a shoulder injury, and even if an MRI showed no big damage, the pain won't allow Purdy to be on the field this week. 49ers Kyle Shanahan revealed that Brandon Allen will start […]
After all, Brock Purdy won't be available to face the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. The San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback has a shoulder injury, and even if an MRI showed no big damage, the pain won't allow Purdy to be on the field this week.
49ers Kyle Shanahan revealed that Brandon Allen will start at Lambeau Field, and he is a quarterback that Matt LaFleur knows pretty well — which could be an edge for the Packers.
When LaFleur was the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator in 2017, Allen was there in his second NFL season.
"I know Brandon, I was with him in LA," LaFleur said on Friday. "He's played, he's been in the league now a long time. But I wouldn’t expect their offense to change a whole bunch."
Curiously enough, there was another member of the current staff in that quarterback room. Allen was a third-stringer, and the immediate backup to Jared Goff was Sean Mannion, who's now a Packers offensive assistant.
Who's Brandon Allen
The 49ers backup quarterback has been in the NFL since 2016. He was a sixth-round pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was waived after his second training camp. That's when he went to the Rams to work with Sean McVay and Matt LaFleur.
He spent two seasons with the Rams, and then played for the Denver Broncos in 2019, Cincinnati Bengals between 2020 and 2022, until arriving in San Francisco last year.
In 2023, Allen was behind Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold on the depth chart. With Darnold leaving in free agency to sign with the Minnesota Vikings, the 49ers signed Josh Dobbs. However, Brandon Allen beat him for the backup job.
"It's definitely an opportunity for me to go out and play well and put our guys in a good position to win the game," Allen said when asked about what the start meant to him. "And obviously, we want Brock back and healthy and all that, but for the time being, it is an opportunity for me."
Interestingly, Brandon Allen has a higher cap hit than Brock Purdy — $1.54 million versus $1.004 million. Allen is a vested veteran, while Purdy is in the third year of his seventh-round rookie contract. The highest cap hit among 49ers quarterbacks, though, is for Dobbs ($2.25 million), who will serve as the backup in Green Bay.
Brandon Allen has had nine starts in his NFL career, three for the Broncos and six for the Bengals. Throughout his NFL career, he's had 10 touchdowns, six interceptions, and a 78.0 passer rating.
Brock Purdy’s performance and underwhelming results: Insights into the 49ers’ season ahead of the Packers game
Green Bay and San Francisco will face off once again
