Trent Williams the obvious winner from Brock Purdy's weird preseason showing for the 49ers

Brock Purdy made his first appearance of the preseason for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

He was emphatically not in a position to succeed.

With none of the 49ers' starting pass-catchers featuring in the game and Purdy also stuck behind a makeshift offensive line, it was absolutely no surprise San Francisco's starting quarterback struggled. What was surprising and, to be frank, downright bizarre was that head coach Kyle Shanahan was willing to put him in such a spot.

The receivers struggled to get open and get on the same page as Purdy, who at one point showed visible frustration with tight end Brayden Willis following a scramble drill, was consistently left to run for his life to evade pressure. Purdy finished two of six for 11 yards and was very lucky not to be intercepted on an ill-advised cross-field throw after a prolonged adventure outside the pocket.

Former 49er Chase Young feasted on the San Francisco O-Line during Purdy's three series on the field, though he was kind enough to simply push his ex-teammate over when he got a clean run at him, minimizing the risk of injury that was clearly apparent with the quarterback in such an unfavorable situation.

While Purdy's lack of success without Brandon Aiyuk, who was in the stadium , Deebo Samuel and George Kittle might not do much to strengthen Aiyuk's hand as his contract negotiations with the 49ers seemingly approach a conclusion , the constant duress he faced may well increase San Francisco's urgency to resolve All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams' holdout .

The 49ers have consistently expressed their confidence in Jaylon Moore, who filled in for Williams when he missed two games through injury last season. However, the left side of the line resembled a turnstile early against the Saints, with the heat on Purdy predominantly coming from that side with Moore seemingly powerless to prevent it.

Shanahan and John Lynch have each expressed optimism that the situation with Williams will reach a positive conclusion that results in him returning to the team.

However, there is no clarity on whether Williams would be willing to extend his holdout into the regular season if the 49ers do not satiate him with a reworked deal that includes the guaranteed money he is seeking.

The fire Purdy came under should spark the 49ers into life to get the Williams contract situation fixed as soon as possible.

Moore's protection issues hammered home the point that San Francisco clearly can't afford to risk not having Williams out there Week 1 when the 49ers host the New York Jets and their vaunted defense on Monday Night Football. As such, a franchise that has reportedly caved quite a bit to get talks with Aiyuk to a point where a deal is close may have to buckle to Williams' demands in the near future.

If there was a winner from the strange experiment of putting Purdy out there with a supporting cast of backups, it was clearly 11-time Pro Bowler Williams.

Related: Brandon Aiyuk provides another sign that negotiations with the 49ers are on the right track