Second-year quarterback Brock Purdy continues to help the San Francisco 49ers rack up wins. While he has yet to lose a regular-season game in his pro career, there are still those who doubt the 23-year-old, saying that he is a product of a quarterback-friendly system or looks better than he is because of the plethora of playmakers around him.
On Thursday, one of Purdy's teammates was asked about the debate surrounding the quarterback's legitimacy.
"All Brock's done is gone out there and win," tight end George Kittle responded. "He does a great job with that. You can watch the tape from this last game against the Giants when he was pressured, like, 31 or however many snaps that was, and he did a really good job on almost all those.
"He does a good job on, hey, if there's not a play there and he knows he's going to get sacked, he tucks the ball, he tries to fall forward. He's been great with the football. He doesn't turn it over."
Purdy has passed for 736 yards and four touchdowns in his three games this season. He has yet to toss an interception this season and is on pace to become the first quarterback since Jeff Garcia in 2000 to surpass 4,000 passing yards in a single season.
A reporter shared with Purdy that he hasn't thrown an interception in his last 190 passes. While that is an excellent achievement, the quarterback continues to look at the big picture.
"Yeah, I want to help my team win at the end of the day, and that comes down to the decisions that I make," Purdy said. "I get the ball every single play, whether I'm handing it off or throwing it, but anytime I'm dropping back, and I have to make a decision with the ball in my hands, of course, I pride myself on not harming our team.
"And so, that just comes down to trying to be selfless, making the right decisions, being prepared for situations and scenarios, and obviously giving our guys on offense a shot to catch the ball and obviously run to put up points. And then being smart for our defense, not putting them in a bad situation with anything like that, making the wrong decision."
Kittle isn't the only one who believes Purdy is more than a system quarterback. One of his defensive teammates is also impressed with the second-year player. Safety Talanoa Hufanga joined NFL Network's "The NFL Report" this week with Steve Wyche and James Palmer and was asked what makes Purdy such a good quarterback.
"I think first and foremost is his prep," Hufanga responded. "I'm a guy that, I'm two lockers down from him, so I see what he does on a daily basis in terms of his prep. A guy that shows up each and every day, and I think he commands the huddle. Anybody can be plugged into a system and have a bunch of weapons, but it's how can you command the guys, earn the respect, and on top of that, perform when needed to. And a guy like him, he's shown that each and every week, last year, and so far this year.
"So obviously, he's a top quarterback in this league, and for me, just getting to go against him, it helps our game, the competition. So from that safety perspective, very blessed just to go against him, for sure."
Purdy is playing efficient football for the 49ers, which head coach Kyle Shanahan and the other players on the roster appreciate.
"He's doing everything that we need to do to win a football game," Kittle added. "And so if they want to rate him as the 20th best quarterback, they want to rate him in the top 10, I don't think he really cares. And I think that as long as he shows up every single day and he's playing the best of his ability, that's good enough for us, and we're just loving every second of it."
