Shanahan: Purdy 'definitely the most poised rookie I've ever had'
Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy has looked like a seasoned veteran to begin his NFL career, battling through rib and oblique injuries to help the San Francisco 49ers earn the NFC West crown with a Thursday night win over the Seattle Seahawks.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan praised Purdy for his toughness after the game, saying the team wasn't even sure the passer would be able to play after listing him as questionable.
"He's definitely the most poised rookie I've ever had. He's been like that since he's gotten here," Shanahan said, according to Grant Gordon of NFL.com. "He was poised all week, even with him being unsure of whether he'd be able to go or not.
"And under the circumstances, we didn't have any other choices, we were going to see how long he could last, and we were ready to go with (backup) Josh (Johnson). But he just got comfortable, he got better as the game went, and it was pretty unbelievable."
Purdy, the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, showed little sign of his injuries against Seattle, completing 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns.
Since 1950, there are just three quarterbacks to throw for 4+ TD, 0 INT and have at least a 70% completion percentage in their first two starts:
- Field Yates (@FieldYates) December 16, 2022
* Aaron Rodgers in 2008
* Jimmy Garoppolo in 2016
* Brock Purdy in 2022 pic.twitter.com/r6uwK1n74A
While San Francisco's Super Bowl hopes appeared to have taken a significant hit with the loss of Jimmy Garoppolo - who had replaced Trey Lance early in the season - 49ers tight end George Kittle knew Purdy had what it took to step in and keep the team in contention.
"What Brock has done since he's come in is he was confident in OTAs ... and he diced up the best defense in the NFL, he came in in the preseason games and was threading balls," Kittle said. "He has had confidence since he came into the building, and everyone on this team has sensed that. And he's just been waiting for an opportunity, and unfortunately, with all the injuries at quarterback, he's finally gotten his opportunity."
Purdy will have over a week to recover from his ailments before San Francisco takes on the Washington Commanders Dec. 24.
Copyright (C) 2022 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.