Even when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy was undefeated over his first 10 regular-season starts and posting terrific numbers, he heard critics.
Those that said he wasn’t as good as his numbers indicated. Those that said he was merely a product of Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system.
Well, in Week 6, the critics had their moment in the sun, as Purdy went just 12-for-27 with 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception in a listless 19-17 loss to the Cleveland Browns, marking the 49ers’ first defeat of the season.
Legendary NFL quarterback Kurt Warner had some advice for Purdy as far as handling criticism this week.
“Here’s the thing: When you’re playing in the NFL and when you’re playing quarterback, there are always questions until you get to a certain level, a Patrick Mahomes, a Peyton Manning, a Tom Brady,” Warner said on KNBR’s Papa and Lund Show. “There’s always questions until you solidify yourself in that way, where it’s year in and year out for a number of years, where everybody goes, ‘Okay, we know exactly what that guy is.'”
In spite of his miserable effort last Sunday, Purdy has still been terrific on the season as a whole, throwing for 1,396 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception while completing 67.5 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 111.9.
“And so Brock, I think everybody can understand the narrative,” added Warner. “He’s been really good. He’s won games. He’s made a lot of big-time throws. He’s got unbelievable talent around him. There is no question about that. He’s got a good scheme and a good team on both sides of the ball to help him with that.”
As Warner points out, you can be a good quarterback in a good system. Those two things are not mutually exclusive, so to act like Purdy is only good because of Shanahan seems disingenuous at this point.
Who knows? Maybe further down the line, Brock Purdy will prove his critics right. Maybe he is just a product of Shanahan. Or, maybe he’s just a really good quarterback who is in the perfect place.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
