Brock Purdy was nearly flawless in the 49ers’ hot start to the 2023 NFL season, leading the team to a perfect 5-0 record.
But things took a turn in Cleveland as the 49ers lost their first game of the season and have yet to recover, falling to a record of 5-3 after losing three games.
Since Week 6, Purdy has thrown five interceptions in the last three games. Two of those came in San Francisco’s recent loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
While Purdy is about as balanced as a professional athlete can be, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told KNBR’s “Tolbert and Copes” on Tuesday that he knows the costly turnovers are weighing heavily on his quarterback.
“That’s part of playing this position and Brock is responsible for that,” Shanahan said (h/t KNBR.com). “You should hear him talk to our team after the game. I mean, he’s sick about these turnovers. I understand how they happen and we don’t want them to happen, but I can’t tell you how much I believe in him.”
Shanahan then analyzed the back-to-back picks and what he thinks happened from his perspective.
“He made a mistake at the beginning, he was fighting, and he saw a guy wide open in the end zone,” Shanahan said. “So he just reacted and threw it and there were illegal guys offside, what happens all the time on screens and then you learn from it, don’t do it again. Unfortunately, the guy made a great play and made a decision.”
San Francisco was still in the game at halftime when Cincinnati went into the locker room with a 14-10 lead. By the end of the third quarter, the Bengals had a 17-10 lead.
And as the 49ers pushed deep into Bengals territory to get the first-and-goal drive and tie the game, Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt secured a game-winning interception against Purdy.
On San Francisco’s next drive, Purdy gave the ball right back to Cincinnati when a throw intended for Brandon Aiyuk was intercepted by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
Despite the costly mistakes, Shanahan has the utmost confidence in the NFL’s second-year quarterback and believes Purdy is a big reason the team has held on over the last few games.
At the same time, he and Purdy know that the criticism a quarterback receives after a loss comes with the territory.
“Brock has been one of the reasons we’ve been in these games the last two weeks and he’s done incredible things,” Shanahan said. “But I also say that when you’re down a few points and you have to come back, that quarterback is going to win or lose. That’s part of the position because he has to make some great plays.” Just to get us back in there. And I thought Brock made some great plays against Cincinnati, some of them in the scramble, some of them with his throws. And he was one of the reasons why we at least had a chance to end up within one score. And he’s one of the main reasons we believe we’ll be able to go down and score.
“And Brock lets it rip. And when the guys let it rip, sometimes you can’t pull it back if you do it too quickly. And he did that once in the game when he threw over the middle. And that was just a…” The bad choice he had. But that doesn’t change the way he plays. He made a few mistakes at the end of the game, but if you watch the video, just say how you think he plays when you watch the game, you’re absolutely right. He plays at a very high level. But if you end up throwing picks when you’re down points, the game ends right there.”
The 49ers head into a bye week and then look to get back on track in Week 10 when they take on the AFC South-dominant Jaguars in Jacksonville.
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