San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan faced significant criticism for his decision to not only play Brock Purdy against the New Orleans Saints but to keep him in the game for three series, even after the quarterback took several big hits.
Purdy was one of the few starters who played in the preseason game, with a mix of starters and backups on the offensive line. He also had several key playmakers missing, as Deebo Samuel, Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, and Christian McCaffrey were sidelined for the contest.
Speaking on Bay Area radio station KNBR on Wednesday, Shanahan responded to the critics with a clear message.
"I might get what people say but I think sometimes people are just trying to be a little bit dramatic with it," Shanahan said. "If I obviously thought it was something that he couldn't protect himself or the guys couldn't match up at all, then we wouldn't do it at all. But we didn't feel that way.
"We liked the reps that Brock got. He was excited to play. He was in there with possibly our two starting tackles, our starting center, our starting right guard."
The 49ers were also without guard Aaron Banks, who broke his pinky leading up to the game. Shanahan mentioned that if the contract negotiations with tackle Trent Williams fall through, the offensive line seen against the Saints could very well be the starting lineup for Week 1.
While this may raise concerns among fans, Shanahan was not entirely displeased with the performance.
"That's part of football, and they're guys that are NFL players," Shanahan continued. "So I didn't see it as anything wrong with the offensive line, and I actually thought the offensive line matched up pretty well and did a pretty good job in that game."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Shanahan below.
