QB Brock Purdy Press Conference

QB Brock Purdy

Press Conference – September 19, 2023

San Francisco 49ers

How does a short week like this mess with your preparation to get fully ready for the next opponent?

“You’ve sort of just got to jam pack installs and your days all together. You’ve got two days really. For us, really today, you do your base, first and second down and third down, put it all together, go through a couple walkthroughs and meetings and you’re just trying to pack everything in within a couple days and then being able to get your body right to play on Thursday. So, it’s different. The preparation is just, it’s more intense for both teams. You don’t get four or five days of preparation to lengthen everything out. You have two days to put it all together and roll.”

How different is it this time for you going through it without having to deal with broken ribs?

“A lot better I’d say. Obviously, yes, treating my body and everything, making sure I feel fresh for Thursday. But, last year the main focus was will I be able to throw come Thursday? Obviously, I didn’t throw a ball for four days or three days, whatever it was up until the game day. So now it’s like, all right, now I can hone into the plays, the details of the operations of the offense, all that stuff. Not worrying about the broken rib.”

Was there a point in that game where you ever didn’t feel pain or felt comfortable or was it just pain all the time?

“I would say yeah, I was definitely not comfortable the whole game. For four quarters, I felt it for sure. But yeah, we were able to pull it out.”

Along the lines of preparation, head coach Kyle Shanahan said last year he didn’t have any time to treat you with kid gloves or kind of ease you into things. Now that you’ve had an offseason, albeit one marred by injury and having to deal with rehab and stuff, how much more is he putting on your plate from compared to where you started?

“I feel like last year we were rolling as a team. [Las Vegas Raiders QB] Jimmy [Garoppolo] was doing great and he was doing what he did with Jimmy and what he’s always done with Jimmy. Just in turn in terms of the install, how our offense looked, what plays we’re going to run. And so once I got in, it was really the same. It was like, we’re going to continue to roll and see how I do with that. And so, moving into this year, honestly, it’s been, I’d say, fairly similar. He knows that I can handle what he’s had with Jimmy the last couple years and what we did last year. Nothing really changed. And so that’s really how it’s been this year. There hasn’t been a drastic change of, ‘Alright, we’re going to add more to his plate since he’s playing more or anything like that.’ It’s been about the same. That’s how this offense has rolled and that’s how we’ve done it.”

How were you able to just roll into it last year? What about your background, what about yourself personally allowed you to handle that kind of responsibility from the get-go?

“I feel like, the four years obviously at Iowa State of playing, the day-to-day, week-to-week basis of studying and how to prepare and all that kind of stuff. And then obviously last year being the backup, knowing that I’ll probably only get one opportunity at this thing, if I do get an opportunity just with the circumstances of being drafted last and all that kind of thing. So for me, it was always like be ready for it and I studied and prepared every single week as if I was starting and when I ended up going in I was ready for that opportunity. So, nothing has changed since.”

On that touchdown drive just before halftime, you had that 20-yard completion to WR Jauan Jennings over the middle. He had his back to you when you let it go, you had a guy coming on a blitz. You talked about timing and trust in this offense, you made similar type throws last year, but is that more comfortable now for you or just more instinctual, natural?

“Probably a combination of both. Obviously, the landmarks, the routes, the concepts, I feel like I have a better grasp of where the guys are supposed to be. Obviously, a year under our belt of experience together with B.A. [WR Brandon Aiyuk], [WR] Deebo [Samuel], Jauan, [TE] George [Kittle], sort of knowing and understanding their cuts. It matters. But also, in the heat of the moment, there’s a guy coming through the B-gap untouched, and I have to drift a little bit and I know and trust Jauan’s going to be 12 to 14 yards breaking in at this angle. I feel like it’s both, it’s a combination of both to answer your question.”

It sounds easy, you just trust it. But as a quarterback sometimes it’s like, ‘oh crap, he’s not looking at me, I’m throwing the ball?’

“Yeah, it’s real. The anticipation, the trust, it’s real, it’s part of this position, it’s part of football. You can’t always throw when a guy breaks and he is wide open. that’s just not how the league works. Windows close fast and you have to be on point, you have to anticipate guys and where they’re supposed to be per coverage, per concept. So that’s something that we work on and we take very seriously here. It’s part of our offense being able to throw before guys break and whatnot.”

Was the coaching point made of when the clock went down to one second that maybe you should have thrown the ball lower or faster into the ground rather than just loft it?

“Yeah, Kyle had told me before like, ‘hey, it’s touchdown or throw it away, we want to have some time on the clock to at least think about going for it on the one again or kick a field goal and get some points.’ That was what was said to me in the moment. I was going to the flat, wasn’t there and I was like, maybe I should run, but in my head I was like, no, I have to get this ball out. Could I have done it quicker? For sure. But I understood how much time we had on the clock and we were good enough to have one more play in us.”

Can you describe the energy and juice you get even if your body maybe isn’t physically there that you can use to your advantage on a Thursday night, on a short week?

“Obviously, I feel like as a quarterback, whether you’re hurt or not, you just have to go in, do your job, you have to do your part for the offense. You get the ball every snap, you have to either make sure you’re in the right play, hit the guys that are open, but at the end of the day it’s like, man, how can you create momentum and juice for your team to get first downs, to get points up on the board and to create momentum for your whole team as a whole. Defense to get some stops. Let’s go get some points on the board and then win. So, whether you’re hurt or not, I feel like there’s always a way to create some momentum and juice for your team. And last year, I feel like when we played Seattle, I was able to learn that lesson pretty quick just in terms of I wasn’t feeling great but had to do what it takes to win, especially late in the season and every game is crucial for us.”

As far as some of those deep throws you missed that you obviously want back, how do you assess and self-correct without being hypercritical of yourself and keeping your confidence?

“As a quarterback you want to play perfect. Is that a real thing? Can you play perfect? I don’t know. You’re going to mess up, obviously, but for myself, I hold myself to a standard, this whole offense, this team holds ourselves to a certain standard. And so for me, I have to watch the film, learn from it, get out at practice and rep it to build that confidence again that hey, we can hit those, those shots and those opportunities. We’ve done it in the past and it’s something that you learn from but not dwell on and let it affect your game moving forward. So that’s where I’m at with that and I’m excited to get going for Thursday.”