Brock Purdy was nearly flawless in the 49ers' hot start to the 2023 NFL season, leading the team to a perfect 5-0 record.
But things took a turn in Cleveland when the 49ers lost their first game of the season and have yet to recover, falling to a 5-3 record amid their three-game losing skid.
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Since Week 6, Purdy has thrown five interceptions over the last three games. Two of them came in San Francisco's most recent loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
While Purdy is about as even-keeled as a professional athlete could be, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan shared Tuesday on KNBR's "Tolbert and Copes" that he knows the costly turnovers weigh heavily on his quarterback.
"That’s part of playing that position and Brock is accountable for that," Shanahan said (h/t KNBR.com). "You should hear him talk to our team after the game. I mean, he’s sick over those turnovers. I understand how they happen and we don’t want them to happen but I can’t tell you how much I believe in him."
Shanahan went on to dissect the back-to-back picks and what he believes happened from his point of view.
San Francisco 49ers
“He made a mistake at the beginning, he was scrambling, and he saw a guy wide open in the end zone," Shanahan said. "So he just reacted and threw it to him and it was gonna be illegal guys downfield which happens all the time on screens and then you learn from it, don’t do it again. Unfortunately, the guy made a hell of a play and picked it.”
San Francisco still was in the game at the half as Cincinnati carried a 14-10 lead into the locker room. By late in the third quarter, the Bengals had a 17-10 lead.
And as the 49ers drove deep into Bengals territory to set up first-and-goal with a chance to tie the game, Bengals linebacker Germaine Pratt secured a game-changing interception off Purdy.
On San Francisco's next drive, Purdy gave the ball right back to Cincinnati as a throw intended for Brandon Aiyuk was intercepted by Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson.
Despite the costly mistakes, Shanahan has the utmost confidence in the second-year NFL quarterback and believes Purdy is a big reason why the team remained in these past couple of games.
At the same time, he and Purdy know that the criticism a quarterback receives after a loss comes with the territory.
"Brock’s been one of the reasons we’ve been in these games these last two weeks, and he has done some unbelievable stuff," Shanahan said. "But I also will say when you’re down some points and you’ve got to get back into it, that quarterback is going to win it or lose it. That’s part of the position because he’s got to make some big-time plays just to get us back in that. And I thought Brock made some big-time plays versus Cincinnati, a number of them scrambling, a number of them with his throws. And he was one of the reasons that we got a chance to at least be within one score at the end. And he’s one of the main reasons we believe we’re gonna be able to go down and score.
"And Brock lets it rip. And when guys let it rip, sometimes you can’t pull it back when you do it too fast. And he did that one time in the game on that throw over the middle. And that was just a bad pick that he had. But by no means does this change how he’s playing. He’s made a couple of mistakes at the end of the game, but if you watch that tape, just like you’re saying how you think he’s playing when you watch the game, you’re dead right. He’s playing at a very high level. But when you throw picks at the end when you’re down points, that ends the game right there.”
The 49ers enter a bye week and then look to get things rolling again in Week 10 when they take on the AFC South-dominating Jaguars in Jacksonville.