Kyle Shanahan says Brock Purdy’s interceptions were ‘all really good decisions’

What went wrong with 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy that caused him to throw three interceptions against the Carolina Panthers on Monday night? Head coach Kyle Shanahan says it wasn't a matter of decision making but rather a case of not putting the ball where it needed to be.

Purdy (193 yards on 23-of-32 passing, one touchdown, three interceptions) threw each of his interceptions in the first half of the 49ers' 20-9 home win over the Panthers. Purdy's mistakes were negated in large part by the 49ers' defense, which came up with takeaways of their own and held the Panthers to just three first-half points amid Purdy's struggles, as well as an offense that cashed in on other opportunities that came its way.

And in the end, while Shanahan certainly wasn't happy about Purdy turning the ball over three times, it didn't sound like he was too concerned about the nature of each of those turnovers.

"Just had three throws you'd love to take back," Shanahan said after the game. "They're all three good decisions, just a hair late on them. And when you're a hair late on stuff, you can't throw it behind him, and he threw it behind him, all three guys made him pay."

There didn't seem to be much about the interceptions that caused Shanahan to think about making any changes, either to the quarterback spot or the plays he was calling. Shanahan told reporters Monday night that he never thought about replacing Purdy with backup Mac Jones, nor did Purdy's interceptions cause him to change his approach.

"You've got to think about all of it and why it's happening," Shanahan said. "It makes me a lot more hesitant if they're all bad decisions and stuff, but he was seeing it right. They're all really good decisions, just missed the throw on them, so I think it is a lot worse when you feel like he's not making the right decisions."

Purdy's opinion of the interceptions was similar that of Shanahan. He too felt he was making good choices with his throws but didn't put them where they needed to be.

"Honestly, the decisions of going to those spots, I was fine with," Purdy said. "It's just the execution of throwing a better ball. I feel like on really all of them, I needed to just drive the ball a little bit more, and I kept it up in the air too long on multiple of them. But that's on me, man. I thought our receivers did a great job of getting separation and winning, so it's just execution-wise, I've got to throw the ball more on a line and put it there."

Purdy also said that the toe injury that kept him out for several games did not play any role in his interceptions.

"The toe is fine. Feels good out there," Purdy said. "It's really just seeing the play develop in anticipation and letting it rip at the end of the day. So it had nothing to do with my toe."

Purdy's first interception came with the 49ers up 7-0 in the first quarter. The 49ers had the ball deep in their own territory when he was picked off by cornerback Jaycee Horn, putting the Panthers in a position to score. The 49ers wound up getting an interception in the end zone from safety Ji'Ayir Brown to stop the threat.

The next one came in the second quarter when Purdy was picked off by cornerback Mike Jackson in the end zone. The interception killed what might have been a scoring opportunity for the 49ers.

"My reads took me to where I threw the ball," Purdy said. "Just from what I saw on the big screen, I thought the guys were there. I just missed the throws, to be honest. And so I've got to go back and watch the film, actually see what happened, and see why I threw it the way I did. But at the end of the day, I thought our guys were there and the ball should have gone there, and it's just I've got to make the play and throw it better."

Then came the second interception by Horn, which tight end George Kittle said Purdy didn't really deserve blame for.

"I will say one of those interceptions he threw, I think it was the third one, they did like alert coverage with the backside corner, which was pretty impressive," Kittle said. "That was a cool coverage. I don't expect Brock to see that at all. I mean, your read's coming this way and the guy's coming from the left side of the field sprinting across? I think that's just a good play by him and a good call by that defense coordinator."

Purdy isn't the type to get rattled easily, so not surprisingly he didn't let the interceptions stop him from being aggressive. He continued throwing the ball downfield, even though he admitted that the interceptions did get to him a little bit.

"Mentally as a quarterback, you want to play aggressive, you want to take what the defense gives you, but when you turn the ball over really three drives in a row, it's like you just feel it," Purdy said. "You feel a little bit of pressure and stuff. But I mean, this is why we're put in this position. I can handle this. As a quarterback, you can't lose confidence in yourself. You can't shrivel back and then all of a sudden take a bunch of checkdowns and stuff. You've still got to read the play out and stay aggressive and be better."

The interceptions give Purdy an unimpressive stat line of eight touchdowns and seven interceptions in four games. He'll obviously have to be much better down the stretch as the 49ers inch closer to a playoff berth, but he's rebounded from bad games before and can certainly do so again (although it'll be interesting to see if Shanahan changes his mind about going to Mac Jones if Purdy has more struggles).

"Obviously, I don't want to have that kind of performance, but I'm an NFL quarterback, and you have games like this," Purdy said. "It's all about how you prepare and get better and move on to the next."