San Francisco 49ers place Canadian QB Kurtis Rourke on non-football injured list

The San Francisco 49ers have placed Canadian quarterback Kurtis Rourke on the non-football injured list.

The designation is meant for players who are unable to participate in on-field activities due to a health issue or injury that wasn’t sustained during an NFL game or practice. In the case of Rourke, he’s continuing to recover from a torn ACL he suffered during his final collegiate season at Indiana University.

The 49ers selected Rourke in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft, making him the first Canadian quarterback to be drafted by an NFL team since Jesse Palmer in 2001. San Francisco kept only two quarterbacks on the active roster: Brock Purdy and Mac Jones.

Rourke led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record and a berth in the College Football Playoff in 2024. He completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns, and five interceptions to be named second-team All-Big Ten and finish ninth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

The 24-year-old native of Oakville, Ont. began his collegiate career at Ohio University where he threw for 7,651 yards, 50 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions and rushed for 828 yards and 11 scores over five seasons. He was named the Mid-American Conference’s Most Valuable Player in 2022.

The six-foot-four, 220-pound passer suffered a torn ACL in 2022 and played the 2024 season with a brace on his knee after suffering the same injury. He underwent revision surgery following the football season.

Rourke is the younger brother of CFL quarterback Nathan Rourke. His CFL rights belong to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who selected him in the third round of this year’s draft.