49ers inactives: Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings sitting it out

With the 49ers already having made their big decisions the day prior, there were no surprises on their inactive list for Thursday night’s game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.

Quarterback Brock Purdy (toe) and wide receivers Ricky Pearsall Jr. (knee) and Jauan Jennings (ribs, knee) were inactive along with running back Jordan James, wide receiver Jordan Watkins (calf), defensive end Robert Beal Jr. (ankle) and linebacker Nick Martin.

With Pearsall and Jennings active, targets for quarterback Mac Jones will be Demarcus Robinson, Kendrick Bourne, Skyy Moore and Marques Valdes-Scantling. Jones will be starting his third game for the 49ers with Purdy aggravating his toe injury in Sunday’s 26-21 loss to Jacksonville.

Sitting Purdy in theory would give him extra time to heal with the 49ers getting the weekend off after playing a Thursday game. The 49ers resume play in Week 6 on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, at which time George Kittle (hamstring) will be eligible to come off injured reserve after being injured in the opener,

Another potential return to practice — although he might need time to get up to speed — could be safety Malik Mustapha, who had off-season ACL surgery.

Martin, a rookie out of Oklahoma State, is a healthy scratch for the fifth time — somewhat of a surprise for a third-round draft pick who was drafted to compete with Dee Winters for the starting weak side linebacker spot alongside inside linebacker Fred Warner.

Winters, however, has been one of the 49ers’ standouts in replacing Dre Greenlaw, who signed with Denver and is currently on injured reserve with a quadriceps injury. Despite speed and athleticism that should lend itself to being a special teams contributor, Martin has so far come up short in that area according to defensive coordinator Robert Saleh.

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So far linebackers getting regular special teams reps include Curtis Robinson and Luke Gifford.

“He’s got to dominate special teams first,’ Saleh said. “Dee Winters is playing at an extremely high level, and the guys after Dee and Fred are outpacing him on special teams. Nick is going to be fine, He needs reps, but he’s got to earn those reps.”

Inactives for the Rams are quarterback Stetson Bennett IV, tight end Tyler Higbee, offensive lineman Rob Havenstein, offensive lineman BeauxLimmer and defensive end Desjuan Johnson.