‘As Far As I Know, It’s Mark’

Sanchez preparing to start; Bradford holding out hope.

Photo by Jeff Fusco

Photo by Jeff Fusco

Straight answers were a little hard to come by in respect to the quarterback situation Tuesday.

Pat Shurmur said that he really didn’t know who would start against the Lions —  stating that it came down to health — and that he was sure Chip Kelly would provide reporters with an update when available. That drew laughs from some members of the assembled media, who won’t meet with Kelly again this week and probably wouldn’t be given the answer even if they did.

Lane Johnson,  a de facto team spokesman of sorts, offered a bit more.

“As far as I know, it’s Mark,” said Johnson. “That’s who’s been going with the ones. That’s who I expect to be out there.”

Bradford spoke to the media for the first time since suffering a concussion and separation of his non-throwing shoulder against Miami on November 15. He revealed that this was the third concussion of his career.

“I had some memory loss. But it’s not the first concussion I’ve had so the symptoms I had were fairly similar to the ones I’ve had in the past, and I’ve been able to recover from those, so.”

Bradford has cleared protocol. He said it’s not the head injury but the shoulder that is making him a question mark for Thursday.

“Getting better. Seems to be getting better every day,” he said.

“I think [it comes down to] how it progresses from here to game time, and whether myself and the coaches feel comfortable with me out there playing.”

Bradford was listed as a limited participant in Tuesday’s walkthrough.

Meanwhile, Sanchez says any uncertainty around the situation is not affecting him.

“I’m not worried about it,” he said. “You’ve gotta prepare and take all of the reps seriously so that’s what I’ve done all week, and I’ll be ready to go Thursday.”

Kelce misses practice

Jason Kelce missed Tuesday’s walkthrough with a knee injury. He was not listed on Monday’s injury report. Julian Vandervelde and Josh Andrews would seem to be the two options if Kelce can’t go.

Zach Ertz and Ryan Mathews remain sidelined with concussions.

Kiko Alonso (ankle), Connor Barwin (quad), Jason Peters (back), Cedric Thornton (ankle) and Walter Thurmond (hamstring) participated in the walkthrough.