SANTA CLARA – Kyle Shanahan certainly relates how the Indianapolis Colts, down to a third-string quarterback, summoned Philip Rivers out of retirement.

Shanahan and the 49ers nearly took the same path three years ago.

Their December 2022 pursuit of Rivers came in the wake of injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, and before Brock Purdy shed his “Mr. Irrelevant” novelty role.

“We talked to Philip as soon as Jimmy broke his foot (Dec. 4, 2022) and talked about the possibility of him coming in,” Shanahan said Wednesday. “I remember telling him that we really felt good about this rookie that we had. … We had no backup and we also had a rookie who was the last pick of the draft and hadn’t played a snap except yet for mop-up time. So we’re not sure where this is going to go. But we’d lik

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