Kyle Shanahan feels 4-INT game is great learning experience for Brock Purdy

Dec 28, 2023, 11:20 AM | Updated: 11:36 am

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 25: Brock Purdy #13 and Quarterbacks Coach Brian Griese of the San Francisco 49ers in the locker room before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at Levi's Stadium on December 25, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. The Ravens defeated the 49ers 33-19. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images)

BY AMILIANO FRAGOSO

San Francisco 49ers Beat Writer

Sometimes in life, you learn more from failure than success. That may be the case for Brock Purdy, according to Kyle Shanahan.

The San Francisco 49ers coach was honest about his assessment of Monday Night’s collapse to the Baltimore Ravens, particularly the play of Purdy. The young quarterback had the worst start of his career, throwing four interceptions in the first three-quarters of the game. He also had zero touchdowns and a 42.6 passer rating, his lowest mark of 2023.

Despite the historically bad showing, Shanahan and the 49ers aren’t worried about Purdy, knowing he’ll put the work in to bounce back.

"He's just got to move forward."

Kyle Shanahan shares an update on Brock Purdy's mindset after Monday's loss pic.twitter.com/t9XmZ4rohx

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 27, 2023

“He’s just got to move forward and treat it as a game,” Kyle Shanahan said Wednesday. “We review the game. He does it on his own before I see him. I got some time to watch it with him yesterday. I know it’s always tough when you have four picks, no touchdowns, especially when you have four of them by two minutes into the third quarter. But, you also look into at all of them, you talk to him about why they happened, what happened.

“When you look in that game, it’s not a hard thing for him to bounce back from and get to work this week. There’s a couple bad plays, the first one in particular. But when you get a look at the tape, there’s nothing, that’s very similar to coaching than what we do every week.”

Shanahan typically sees a glass-half-full approach in most of his team’s blunders, especially this one though.

Purdy struggled mightily against the Ravens, feeling uncomfortable in the pocket throughout. But his coach feels that it wasn’t the moments he was making the mistakes that defined his day, it was how he responded after the fact. Of the 49ers’ 11 drives in Week 16, only three of them resulted in points.

Yes, the burden isn’t all on Brock Purdy. But for a QB that has stayed so even-kneeled in his NFL career, Monday night was a bit of an eye-opener that he can be rattled.

“I thought the biggest thing for Brock was the way it went in the first half. I thought just between Brock and I just talking where I thought he struggled the most was after the four picks,” Shanahan explained. “I thought his first pick was a bad mistake. I thought the next three were unfortunate ones that you don’t make excuses for, there’s just tough football plays and they made some good football plays. But it’s tough to play a lot of football after you have four picks and stuff, especially when you’re down versus that type of defense.”

Despite the horror showing on national television, Shanahan believes Purdy will be better off for it, learning how he handles adversity even if the outcome isn’t what they wanted.

“I think that was the best experience for him. How to feel that, to know what’s happened, to know why it’s happened, and still have to go out there and sling it around and play. I think that’s the best experience you can get from that game,” Shanahan said about Purdy.