Brock Purdy says the 49ers need to look in the mirror after upset loss

Oct 16, 2023, 8:54 AM | Updated: 9:27 am

Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers attempts a pass while pressured by Ogbo Okoronkwo #54 of...

Jason Miller/Getty Images

Sports Editor/Writer

After suffering their first regular season loss in a year, it’s time for the 49ers to look at themselves in the mirror, including Brock Purdy.

The Red & Gold’s young signal caller got a gut-punch reality check in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. Purdy finished the game with only 125 passing yards and one touchdown on 12 of 27 attempts. To make matters worse, he had a career-worse quarterback rating (55.3) and threw his first interception of the season.

Brock Purdy hadn’t thrown a pick in 248 consecutive passing attempts, highlighting the abysmal showing from him and the 49ers offense altogether.

And while the 49ers expected a tough contest on the road, they still believed that taking care of business would result in going 6-0. That was not the case, however, getting outplayed by the home side that was more deserving of the dub in the 49ers’ minds.

“It’s the NFL, you get opportunities, you gotta take advantage of them. So, there’s definitely some throws and opportunities I feel like that were there for me, and I missed them,” Brock Purdy told the media Sunday. “And we all got to look ourselves in the mirror and see the flaws and stuff and now get better from it. But, it starts with me.”

Purdy says he will look himself in the mirror after today's performance 👇 pic.twitter.com/5dI1Qfb280

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 15, 2023

The 49ers started hot Sunday, marching downfield on the opening possession to take a seven-point led in less than three minutes. Then the injury bug reared its’ ugly head.

The 49ers lost both left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) and wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) in the first half Sunday, with the former eventually returning to the game. Later, San Francisco lost running back Christian McCaffrey, exiting the contest in the third quarter with an oblique injury. The visitors were already down a man before the game even started, with linebacker Dre Greenlaw inactive with a hamstring issue.

The 49ers are no stranger to the injury bug, dealing with it for the entirety of Kyle Shanahan’s tenure. And while Purdy and the offense missed their stars dearly, they still preached a next-man-up mentality. But, miscommunication and uncertainty over who’s on the field doomed the Red & Gold as well, something that the QB has to do a better job at in the future.

“Obviously they’re playmakers, really good playmakers and so it hurts. But at the same time, we got guys who are able to come in and make plays too,” Purdy explained. “That’s on me, being able to help out guys like [WR Ray-Ray McCloud] and [WR Jauan Jennings], that are gonna play more, [RB Elijah Mitchell] coming in. I got to do a better job with communicating to them in the huddle, giving them some sort of expectation of what’s to come in terms of the play and stuff. So, that’s something I gotta be better at.”

Despite going three and out on fourth-straight possessions, the 49ers had a chance to steal the game late in the fourth quarter.

Needing to get into field goal range, Brock Purdy conducted the offense on a nine-play drive with a minute and a half remaining. Making some big throws to wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Jennings, the 49ers found themselves with a chance to hit a game-winning field goal from 41 yards away.

And while the kick was no good in the end, the ability for Purdy to focus on the task at hand, despite the poor showing, was very key, hoping one drive could swing the momentum back the 49ers’ way.

“Yeah 100%, that was my mentality the whole game,” the QB stated. “For me, it’s like, let’s get into a rhythm, let’s hit the guys when they’re open, let’s move the chains and then put up points. That was my mentality that whole game, every drive, even though I missed some throws and whatnot. That’s where I was that. But at the end of the day, man, I feel like I didn’t play to the standard that I needed to.”

Purdy’s team came to his defense, however, including his coach Kyle Shanahan. Sure, the second-year QB missed some throws and had his worst showing of the last 12 months, but so did the 49ers as a whole.

Shanahan shares his message to the team after today's loss ⬇ pic.twitter.com/BPvQ2Y3Thj

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) October 15, 2023

“I thought we did some good things in the first half. We had two opportunities in the first half to get two really big plays that I think would’ve changed a lot of it and we missed both of them…But it wasn’t just Brock, it was everybody,” Shanahan said postgame.

And as for rookie kicker Jake Moody missing the game-winner, it’s water under the bridge in their minds, having full trust that Moody will only grow from this setback.

“We trust in Jake [Moody]. He has a great leg, he’s been great all year…Do I think we should have done this or that? I think we did our job. If we had to do it again, we’re gonna trust in Jake again,” Brock Purdy said.