QB Brock Purdy Press Conference

QB Brock Purdy

Press Conference – October 12, 2023

San Francisco 49ers

You only have like two scrambles this season, and you obviously have the ability to scramble more and get some yards, but I mean, is that a point of pride that you don’t do that and keep your eyes downfield and kind of exhaust a passing play?

“Yeah, honestly, I feel like it’s more of like a testament to the guys up front doing a great job blocking and the skill guys being able to do their thing within the pass scheme. And then the great play calling. So, for me it’s been great just in terms of going through progressions and reads, being on time and getting the guys the ball in space. When things happen, you have to break down. I feel like having the ability to scramble is something that I could do, but I play quarterback and that’s what I try to do first, obviously is go through my reads, progressions and trust the guys around me. So that’s sort of just how it’s gone. I haven’t told myself, alright, I’m not going to scramble as much or anything like that. That’s just how it’s gone.”

Going through progressions and being on time and things like that, the numbers would suggest that you’ve greatly improved in some of those areas. Did you feel that and if so, how are you kind of seeing things quicker or maybe even seeing them slower in some way?

“Yeah, I think honestly just the second year in and with this playbook just for how familiar I am with the terminology, the concepts, how we tie things together I feel like just the experience sort of helped me to be able to just play. [Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] calls a great game and stuff, and so for me, I obviously trust in that. And they help me break it down obviously throughout the week, so I know what I’m looking at and I’m prepared for different situations and stuff, so I’ve got great coaching, they allow me to just go out and play come Sunday. I guess my second year into the system, I feel like I’m getting a little bit more comfortable with it. Still areas to grow.”

It’s kind of cliche, but does it seem like things have slowed down for you just in terms of the way you’re seeing things?

“Yeah, a little bit, I’d say so. The game’s always going to be fast and quick, but in terms of like the reads and the progressions, yeah.”

A little technical here though. I know there are “can” plays, right? You can “can” a play. Do you have the other play? Is that called by Kyle or are there options? How does that all work?

“Yeah, that’s all built in. So, he’ll say the play with also the ability to run the second play. He tells me that whenever I’m getting the play, so I walk up to the line and try to get us in the right play.”

So, you’re calling two plays almost?

“Yeah. Yeah. Yep.”

When you look at the Cleveland Browns defense, do you see the 49ers defense or least that front that you’ve gone against all offseason?

“Yeah. It’s a really good challenge for us, the front, they do a great job with I feel like just getting after the offensive line and pushing them back and getting up on the quarterback’s toes, sort of pushing the quarterback off balance with just being in rhythm for a play. So, they do a great job with that. And yeah, you can see the similarities with how [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek coaches the guys up here. The stunts and the things, just the drive, the get-off on the D-Line man, it’s crucial. And so yeah, at camp, we obviously go against that every single day, or we did go against that every day, and it was a great challenge for us. So, when we watch the film it’s like, ‘alright, yeah, we got another great challenge in front of us this week with these guys.’ So they’re, I think, one of the best in the league and a really talented group, so excited to go against them.”

How important is it for you to huddle with your receivers between series to just communicate either what you’re seeing or what they’re seeing out on the field?

“Yeah, I think it’s huge. Honestly, I learned that last year when I got here. In college you’re always spread out. You’re getting a signal from the sideline and then you sort of just run the play, not really talking and communicating to the guys until you get to the sideline. So being in a huddle and being able to talk to guys what they’re seeing, you know, how did this guy react to this or that, and then being on the same page moving forward, I think it’s huge. Or even just telling them ‘hey, on this play, I’m thinking this, be aware of what we’re doing.’ So I love it. I love how we huddle.”

People have talked about your ability to keep your eyes downfield. Is that an acquired skill or something that you learned, I mean, with chaos going all around you to still keep your eyes downfield, or just something you learned through the years or something you were naturally gifted at? How would you describe it?

“I would say learned. Maybe both, but just there’s been plays in college and even in the NFL that, every once in a while it happens where you pull the ball, you run downfield, or the play is just off-schedule and you miss a guy downfield, and so you sort of just like eat at yourself, like, dude, if I would’ve just had my eyes up field, that would’ve been a big play. And so, I feel like it’s just something that you have to sort of experience, go through, remember, so that when you’re in the next moment, it’s just natural for you to, alright, I got to get my eyes up this time and keep downfield before I take off. So, that is something that I’ve had to learn, I think the hard way just throughout my life and career playing football.”

Former NFL QB Tom Brady had some nice things to say about you this week. So, can you go back to your first start, which was against him, and I guess what that meant for your confidence? I mean, obviously, you faced the Dolphins the week before and the blitzes, but what did it mean to go in against Brady, to win that game, and how’s that carried on?

“I mean, obviously the best quarterback of all time, knowing that we have to be like on point on our side of things, because when you get the ball in his hands, man, you never know what can happen, he is the best. And so, for us it was like, we have to make the most of every opportunity. For myself, it’s like I have to be quick with my decisions, make sure I’m on the right side of the ball, making the right decisions, getting the ball to the right guys, or else if I’m just giving the ball up to this guy we may not even have a chance. So that’s sort of what we were thinking the whole game. I remember we were up I think by a couple of scores and even I was still, uneasy. I had this uneasy feeling in my stomach, like, dude, we just cannot let off the pedal because Tom Brady’s obviously had all these comebacks in his career and his life and stuff, so that’s where I was always at. Just one more, one more, one more, every drive. And so, that was my mindset with that. But in terms of the confidence moving forward, yeah, he’s the best. And to be able to say we beat Tom Brady, man, it was, for us, it was huge. I think at that point in the season we were just getting onto a roll of winning and obviously we were able to get on a winning streak going into the playoffs. So, it was huge for all of us. And then including myself, my first start, and yeah, it was huge.”

We have to keep going, keep winning, and get another score, get another score. That’s how it carried over to each game?

“Yeah, I’d say so. Yeah, for sure. Yeah.”

Do you play with a chip on your shoulder and amid all this success, how do you maintain an edge week after week?

“I mean, there’s little things. Just even when we’re in meetings, [quarterbacks coach Brian] coach Griese or [assistant quarterbacks coach Klay] Kubiak and Kyle saying, you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do this, got to do this. So, there’s always something that’s like, man, I could be better, you know? And so, when I step out in the field, man, it’s like still trying to prove to myself that I haven’t reached my full potential yet. And so, that’s like that chip that I always have on my shoulder and no matter what everyone else is saying, man, like I know that there’s another level that I can get to and so that’s where I’m trying to get. And you know, taking it one day at a time, but never being comfortable with where I’m at.”

Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks told his defense last week on, I believe Saturday, you guys don’t know how good you can be, and they went out and had that performance. Do you feel that similar way with your offense? Like, we don’t know how good we can be yet, despite already scoring 30 points every single game?

“I feel like we, yeah, we still have left stuff out there, where we can be our best and still reach our full potential. I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to reach that just because that’s like a perfect game and I don’t know if you can play an exactly perfect game in the NFL, but that’s like the standard man, and that allows us to play really good. So that’s what we’re always telling ourselves and, if we’re being real, yes, there is so many more mistakes and things that we can clean up and be better at. So, for us that’s like a thing that we’re excited about like we have every single week to go out and prove to be our best versions of ourselves.”