The San Francisco 49ers have the No. 1 seed and a bye in the first round of the NFL playoffs wrapped up heading into their Week 18 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams, so the team will not play quarterback Brock Purdy. Ahead of this meaningless game, 49er general manager John Lynch explained the thought process behind sitting Purdy on Sunday.

“Lynch on resting Purdy: ‘We took a lot into account, one of them being Week 1 in Pittsburgh after not a lot of work in training camp … and coming off bye in middle of season helped him. If we can pull back a little, it can help him. We trust in the plan. Brock's on board,’” Brian Murphy of KNRB AM in San Francisco reported on Friday.

In the absence of Brock Purdy in the 49ers Week 18 tilt with the Rams, backup QB Sam Darnold will get the start.

All this makes sense, especially considering the 49ers signal-caller might be a little banged up heading into the postseason. He left back-to-back games in Weeks 15 and 16 with neck stingers, so resting Purdy will hopefully allow him to come back fully healthy in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs.

And keeping Purdy healthy for the 49ers’ playoff run has to be the No. 1 priority for John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan.

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Christian McCaffrey on the left, with his brother Luke on the right.

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Cooper DeJean and Jalyx Hunt in Philadelphia Eagles uniforms on one side, Ja'Lynn Polk and Caedan Wallace on the other side in New England Patriots uniforms

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Deebo Samuel, Brock Purdy, 49ers, Samuel 49ers, 49ers trade

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Last season, we all saw what happened in the NFC Championship Game when the Philadelphia Eagles knocked Purdy out with a shoulder injury, then knocked Josh Johnson out, necessitating Purdy to come back in, even though he physically couldn’t throw the ball. The result of those quarterback injuries was the Eagle trouncing the Niners 31-7.

Of course, the danger here is that Purdy comes out rusty in Round 2 after two full weeks off.