The San Francisco 49ers fell just short of their Super Bowl aspirations yet again in 2022, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship Game after quarterback Brock Purdy suffered a torn UCL early in the first quarter.
Now fully healthy, Purdy is prepared for another potential Super Bowl run with a strong core around him, with the 49ers as motivated as ever, taking the process day by day.
"We have such a special group of guys, so much experience, the veterans on this team, and how everyone's professional in what they do," Purdy recently told Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. "There's not a lot of selfishness or anything, ego, none of that. And so we all have the same mindset: to win a Super Bowl and do everything we can to be our best every single week, every single day."
Coming into the offseason, Purdy faced a daunting recovery with an unprecedented torn UCL inury, but saw nothing but support from his teammates, making the process easier for the quarterback, who ended up coming back earlier than the projected six-month timeline in time for the beginning of the preseason.
"And as I've rehabbed here, going back to OTAs, just the vibe, the locker room, how guys are and how supportive they are with my arm, and they're like, 'Man, you're going to be just fine. We believe you'll be back and in the swing of things, and we'll pick up where we left off,'" Purdy said. "And it's been like that across the whole entire roster.
"So very thankful for this group and this organization, the guys up top, all the way down. It's been great."
Understanding the Super Bowl aspirations after a strong 2022 season, Purdy and the 49ers are determined to take the sour taste of losing out of their mouths, but know the work that comes with the grueling process.
"Obviously, I think we all had that Super Bowl taste in our mouth last year, winning 12 in a row, getting an NFC Championship, feeling good about just everything, and then things ending the way it did," Purdy shared. "So, we still have, obviously, that mindset of, 'Hey, we can be the best team in the league at the end of it,' but it starts with winning the day, being our best version every single day, and that'll come."
The solution? Taking it day-by-day, putting in consistent work, and having the mentality of earning their flowers once again.
"We've got to take it week by week, and every single year, just because you did what you did last year doesn't mean it's going to be the same this year," Purdy said. "So we have to earn it again. That'll be the case every single year. But that's where we're at. We're just taking it day by day."
Purdy and the 49ers will look to continue their process in the home opener on Thursday, where they'll host the New York Giants in a primetime game in hopes of improving to 3-0 on the season.