SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After a year spent as a pro football nomad, bouncing around the NFL, Joshua Dobbs has had a much quieter 2024 season as a backup to quarterback Brock Purdy for the San Francisco 49ers.
Dobbs will get a chance to finish his first season with the team — the eighth NFL franchise the former University of Tennessee standout has spent time with in some form — by starting in place of an injured Purdy on Sunday when the 49ers (6-10) visit the Arizona Cardinals (7-9) in an NFC West Division matchup.
The regular-season finale can also serve as a head start to an offseason in which he’ll be a free agent.
“Anytime you get a chance to get on the field and play, it’s always an audition, not only for the team that you’re on, but for the other 31 teams (in the NFL),” Dobbs said Thursday. “Especially knowing my contract situation and being a free agent in March. So it’s opportunity to go out and show what I can do here as a 49er in this scheme as well as for other opportunities.
“I kind of let free agency and all that stuff work itself out when that time comes, but I’m just excited for the opportunity to get on the field and play.”