Getty Image / Thearon W. Henderson
Most established NFL starting quarterbacks aren’t playing a whole lot in the preseason as it is typically not worth the risk of a costly injury occurring in a meaningless game. One exception to that so far has been San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.
Brock Purdy played three drives of the San Francisco 49ers’ preseason win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. People were pretty confused as to why Kyle Shanahan had him out there that long.
While you would expect Purdy to have had a lot of success, that wasn’t the case. He was just 2-6 for 11 yards and was sacked once, as well. The 49ers recorded just one first down in his three drives.
It’s preseason, and none of that should change your opinion on Brock Purdy and the 49ers offense this year. But, the real question is why he was playing so much to begin with. After all, the 49ers were missing plenty of offensive starters and the pass protection was not good. It did not seem worth it for him to be playing.
According to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, this is what Kyle Shanahan had to say about it on Monday.
“Just thought that it’d be good for him to get a couple reps in or a couple drives in,” Shanahan said. “We were hoping it would be one long drive just to get him out, similar to what (Brandon Allen) had last week. But we had, I think it was two three-and-outs, so I don’t want to go past that. I think it’s good for quarterbacks to get in. Felt good with the guys that were in there and we were pretty conservative with what we did with them and I felt Brock kind of wanted to do it too.”
Brock Purdy offered his thoughts as well.
“You obviously get a pass rush and all that kind of stuff, but to get out in the game and understand that there’s a mental clock where you have to get the ball out or else you’re going to get hit, or there’s times where you do have to stand in there and take some hits, like that’s the kind of stuff you can’t get in practice,” Purdy said. “Honestly, it’s those things that I liked just the idea of playing in a preseason game to feel again before the season gets here and everything. So, it’s good reps for me, it’s a good feel for me as a quarterback. I didn’t mind it. It’s part of the game.”
A lot more of the league’s quarterbacks will play in the third week of preseason, and Brock Purdy will be no exception to that, Wagoner said.