San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch wanted to make one thing clear during his weekly interview on KNBR Friday morning: his confidence in quarterback Brock Purdy remains unshaken.
Purdy is coming off one of his toughest games as a pro. He threw three interceptions in the 28-18 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, finishing with a career-low 36.7 passer rating. Although it's unfair to place all the blame for the loss on Purdy—who was without his top receivers for much of the game—critics are pointing to Sunday's struggles as evidence that Purdy might not be capable of carrying the team on his own.
This debate is particularly significant, as Purdy is on track to become one of the NFL's highest-paid players next offseason, if not the highest. Still, Lynch views Sunday's performance as an outlier, not proof that Purdy is merely a product of the system and surrounding talent.
"I think we played a really good defense," Lynch explained. "One of the better defenses. Not one of the better—the best defense in football. In my mind right now, Spags (Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) has those guys playing."
Lynch emphasized that Purdy holds himself and his teammates to the 49ers' high standards, even against top defenses. Still, even the best in the game have setbacks in the NFL.
"Tom Brady called that game the other day," Lynch continued. "Tom had bad games. I think when you look at Brock's tenure here, and it's not been a super long one, but he's starting to log some games as our starter. I think 95 percent of them [or more] have been excellent.
"So, this is a guy [in whom] we've got great belief and trust. He had a bad game, and that happens in this league. It happened to Peyton Manning. It happened to Joe Montana. I'm sure he played bad games. That's hard to remember because he did so many great things."
Purdy now has the opportunity to shift the narrative with the Dallas Cowboys coming to town on Sunday night. The 49ers need a win to reach .500 before the bye week.
"But Brock's done a lot of really good things, and we've got a ton of belief, and as much belief that after a bad one, he's going to bounce back and play well," Lynch concluded. "He's a confident kid. He's always going to get himself ready to play, and he'll go execute for us. We've got all the belief in the world that he will. I have all the belief in the world that he will."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below.
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