WATCH: 49ers lose quarterback Josh Johnson to injury, Brock Purdy reenters the game

The San Francisco 49ers found themselves in a wild position on Sunday, losing their fourth-string quarterback to injury. San Francisco has been forced to use third-string quarterback Brock Purdy as their starter for the playoffs due to injuries, and an early injury to Purdy during the first half led to their fourth-stringer, Josh Johnson, taking over playcalling duties.

With Purdy still battling an elbow injury that appeared to be a nerve injury of some kind, Johnson hit the turf and was examined under concussion protocols on the sideline. Physically unable to play, a moment of extreme confusion took over on the 49ers sideline while the team had to continue with their drive. The team’s designated fifth-string quarterback was star running back Christian McCaffrey, and he scrambled with the equipment crew to put on a helmet capable of receiving play calls from the sideline.

Josh Johnson left the game after going down on the previous play. Christian McCaffrey is the emergency QB, and switched his helmet out so he could have one that is capable of hearing play calls.

Brock Purdy ended up returning for one play at QB: A handoff to the RB. pic.twitter.com/K5OL5RlLfo

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 29, 2023

49ers quarterback situation nearly leads to Christian McCaffrey

While McCaffrey prepared to take control of the offense, Purdy made his return to the field instead and allowed the team to stabilize their personnel situation for a moment. Unfortunately for 49ers fans, the crazy situation didn’t resolve itself immediately as San Francisco did not throw the ball on the following drive with Purdy under center.

If Purdy was unable to throw the ball, it may fall to the 49ers to use McCaffrey as a wildcat-formation quarterback and feature him and Deebo Samuel in the backfield together.

As the team scrambled to figure out who would be lining up at quarterback for the remainder of the game, Johnson was escorted into the locker room for further evaluation as well — appearing to indicate that his day was over. Shortly afterwards, the broadcast team confirmed that Johnson was ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion and that the 49ers were left with a severely hampered Purdy as their only throwing option.