For Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers, Monday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens made for a pretty wicked Christmas night.
It was the Niners’ first double-digit loss in nearly two months, and they failed to secure the NFC’s top overall seed. Purdy might also have slipped from the MVP race as a result.
But those failures also presented learning opportunities — especially for Purdy.
“It’s huge for me,” Purdy said Thursday, via the Mercury News. “There was the build up for it being a big game on Christmas and on Monday Night Football, and it was a big game.”
Purdy threw four interceptions in the game and left with a stinger, replaced late by Sam Darnold. What hurt just as much is that the 49ers appeared to control the game in the early going before the turnovers put them at a severe disadvantage.
Purdy was hard on himself immediately after the game, even if the interceptions weren’t necessarily all his fault. Now that he’s had time to reflect on the game, Purdy said he must balance aggression with smarts, especially in high-leverage situations against quality opponents.
“There’s a fine line (between) ripping something that’s tight-window or tight-contested, but at the same time being smart with where the game is at,” he said. “I’ve played in enough games where I understand when I can be aggressive and take a shot or (when I should) check it down.
“It’s a situational thing. It’s where I have to grow and bank on experiences I’ve gone through. Being a quarterback in the NFL, you have to take chances and risks into windows at the right time, and that’s what I’m learning right now.”
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan wanted Purdy to be less aggressive on the first interception, which cost his team early points because there wasn’t a situational need to be so greedy. But Shanahan said earlier this week that he’s confident Purdy will bounce back and that his quarterback had a few things working against him Monday.
“He stayed in there, kept battling,” Shanahan said. “Our whole team struggled there in the second half, so it just wasn’t him. I know he was disappointed not being able to finish it there, but given that stinger again, I just wanted to keep him out of there. Ready for him to bounce back next week.”
The 49ers face the Washington Commanders on the road Sunday, and Purdy said he expects to be out there in spite of being listed on this week’s injury report (shoulder). He believes the four-INT game will end up being a net positive if he can take the situational lessons he learned from the Week 16 game and apply them going forward, starting with Sunday’s game.
“For me it’s a great learning experience, in not buying into what’s going on around and being said,” Purdy said. “It’s about being in the moment, (making the) right decisions, (protecting) the ball. Not to say I’ll be perfect moving forward. It’s football, you’re not perfect.”
What’s less important, Purdy said, was listening to the outside noise that came after the game.
“People can say things, and you can buy into it,” he said. “You need to have that chip on your shoulder, put your head down, go to work, show (your) teammates week in and week out that you’re the guy.”
