It was an NFL first for Brock Purdy. The quarterback suffered his first regular-season loss as a starter after the Cleveland Browns beat the San Francisco 49ers 19-17 on Sunday.
While Purdy struggled through much of the Week 6 contest, the second-year quarterback orchestrated a final offensive drive that positioned the 49ers for a potential game-winning field goal. Unfortunately, rookie Jake Moody's kick veered wide right, handing San Francisco its first loss of the season.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan, speaking to reporters before the team's first practice of the week, was asked how he expects Purdy to respond to the adversity of his first regular-season loss.
"The same way he always does," Shanahan responded. "I mean, we'll see. This is the first time responding to a loss, but in terms of not designating things wins or losses, if he would have won it on the last play of the game, he'd still have to respond the same way.
"So it's him just doing his job and coming in here and being the same way he's been since the day we've met him. And I don't think we're stressed about that too much because I've never seen a different guy."
Shanahan predicts how Brock Purdy will bounce back against the Vikings on "Monday Night Football" pic.twitter.com/8Kf6QehCI0
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 19, 2023
Shanahan expressed a high level of trust in Purdy, who has been able to execute the coach's offensive vision to near perfection. Sunday's defeat won't change that. The team was particularly impressed with how the quarterback handled himself as a rookie and again this offseason while recovering from UCL surgery.
"He earned a lot of trust with me," Shanahan said. "Earned a lot of trust with the players, going into the offseason, how he handled his injury, how he just handled himself when he wasn't able to practice, just in the meeting rooms and everything and through every experience with him in games this year. He's earned as much trust as you could have in a quarterback."