49ers QB Brock Purdy gives honest assessment of poor outing vs. Ravens: ‘It pains me’

Based on past results, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy can be expected to bounce back after going through a career-worst outing in a 33-19 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Christmas night. But that doesn't sound like it's going to happen without a good amount of reflection on his part first over what went wrong and what he needs to do better in the future.

Purdy spoke candidly with reporters after throwing for four interceptions in the loss to the Ravens -- the first time he's reached that number in his NFL career. Purdy knows he'll have some chances in the near future to make the Christmas game feel like a distant memory, but he's also going to take a long look at what he can learn from what happened.

"We have some opportunities coming up, and we still got two games left in the regular season before we get in the playoffs," Purdy said. "And so for me, I'm trying to look at the big picture of what we're trying to do, what our team goals are. But at the same time, I have to look myself in the mirror and ask myself why or how that happened and why I made those decisions.

"Our team came ready to play, and for me to make some decisions like that, it pains me, and it's not fair to these guys. So I have to realize that and understand that, and I have to get better for my team."

For Purdy, who finished with 255 yards on 18-of-32 passing to go with his four interceptions, the first step may be reminding himself that he needs to play with more poise when things aren't going his way. Purdy's interceptions helped put the 49ers in a hole against the Ravens, which he suggested led to him pressing a bit and trying to make plays that weren't there.

"I think it's easier to do so when you don't have that many turnovers going on or the game is a close game and whatnot," Purdy said. "But when things are in my mind of, 'All right, you've messed up a couple of times, I got to find a way to make a play,' that's where I think I have to grow and be willing. Like I said, a bad play happens. Throw the ball away, punt the ball, the game's still manageable to come back, and those are things I have to get better at and understand."

At least two of Purdy's interceptions can be credited at least in part to good defensive plays by the Ravens, with one of them coming after blitzing cornerback Brandon Stephens batted a pass behind the line of scrimmage into the arms of cornerback Marlon Humphrey and another coming after Purdy was hit as he threw. But Purdy was critical about his decision making on his other two interceptions, with one of them being his first turnover of the game when he ended an early drive by throwing the ball into the arms of Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton in the end zone.

"That starts it off," Purdy said. "Obviously, we were rolling. We had the momentum, had some really big plays on that drive, and then I throw the ball like that to end the momentum that we had.

"So for me, yeah, that definitely hurt. Wish I had it back. I wish I would have progressed and just checked it down and kept the drive alive.


Purdy told reporters that he zeroed in on wide receiver Deebo Samuel on the play when he should have gone through his progressions to find another option.

"I saw Deebo flash a little bit, and in that play, if we had quarters with two-high safety, Deebo wasn't necessarily a thought," Purdy said. "I'm supposed to progress. And so I thought I saw some space early on, and I threw it late, and then the safety made a play and picked it off. So, clear as day on me. I got to progress."

Purdy was also critical of his performance on his third interception. He admitted to making a bad situation worse when after seeing flags on the field for a likely offensive penalty, he made a throw that gave Hamilton his second interception of the game.


"I saw some flags thrown as I was scrambling and stuff, not exactly sure of what or who it was on," Purdy said. "And so my mind was trying to make a play, and honestly, I can't make a bad play worse. I have to know that that's on us in terms of the flag. Just by some body languages of our O-Line and things like that, I did see that. So for me to throw across my body back in the middle of the field with a guy on George, that's very dumb of me. So I've got to throw the ball away and live to fight another play and be willing to punt. So that's something I got to learn from the hard way."

Purdy left the game after taking a sack in the fourth quarter, which aggravated a stinger he sustained the week before in a win over the Arizona Cardinals. Assuming the injury doesn't linger, head coach Kyle Shanahan expects to see Purdy attack the coming week as he always does and have a rebound performance when the 49ers face the Washington Commanders on December 31.

"He'll bounce back," Shanahan said. "He'll be in there tomorrow looking at the film. He'll come Wednesday ready to go. Hopefully a stinger clears up which I expect it to, and our whole team will bounce back."

But based on his comments after the loss Monday night, Purdy is going to spend at least a little bit of time doing some soul searching before heading into next week's game. That will involve going over the mistakes he made against the Ravens and reminding himself what he needs to do to adjust when things aren't going his way.

"For me, it's like I got to ask myself, 'All right, who are you?" Purdy said. "'What do you stand for? Who are you when things are good? Who are you when things don't go your way? It's easy to be riding the high and thinking you're the man when things are going well, winning games and all that kind of stuff, and you don't really see a whole lot of adversity in some games and whatnot. And this is the reality of the NFL. And so for myself, I obviously have to look myself in the mirror, watch the plays where I need to get better, make some cleaner decisions, help my team put up points and score and protect the ball.

"And when things don't go my way, it's understanding I can't be acting out. I have to be real with myself and be better. But I want to be the same guy every day, be consistent in what I do and how I do things, whether things are going well or not. I know who I am and I'm not going to waver in that. So I've said that before and I'll continue to hang my hat on that."

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