SANTA CLARA — Coach Kyle Shanahan might have held his breath when Clelin Ferrell swatted the ball out of 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy’s throwing hand during training camp practice last week, but the quarterback remains unfazed.
“I feel like as a teammate or a coach watching, they might be scared about that,” Purdy said on Friday. “Especially after how things ended last year with my arm. Honestly, for myself, it’s just football. I wasn’t even thinking about it.”
On Friday Ferrell got past the offensive line again and was heading towards Purdy, this time facing Trent Williams. The left tackle recovered and Ferrell ended up on the grass. A few series later, Ferrell pulled up well short of the young quarterback with his hands in the air.
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“It was more concerned with the read and hitting the open guy,” Purdy said about Ferrell hitting his arm last week. "Then he hit it and I was like, ‘Oh shoot, he got through.’ I wasn’t even like ‘He hit my arm,' or anything like that. That’s the honest truth.”
Purdy has been on a strict recovery plan, with the goal of increasing his workload in order to be ready for Week 1 of the 2023 season after suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament injury in the NFC Championship Game last season. On Friday, the second-year quarterback saw his highest snap count at practice yet and was on the field for 32 plays.
The Iowa State product completed 15 of his 21 pass attempts Friday, with one touchdown and one interception. Following practice, Purdy shared that his arm has been feeling fine as his reps have increased.
“Feels good,” Purdy said. “Second day in a row of throwing, just like I’ve been doing the past month. Arm feels good. It feels like I can continue to keep going. We have a plan of throwing two days on and one day off. Just sticking to that and going from there. Arm feels really good.”
San Francisco 49ers
Purdy will be under center again Saturday as scheduled. As far as how he feels when pass rushers like Ferrell are approaching him head-on, the second-year quarterback is taking it all in stride.
“Was I mad at Clelin or anything like that?” Purdy said. “I told him, ‘Hey, it’s football. I get it. We are in a competing environment. Things happen.’ For myself was I scared about it? Was I timid after that? No. It’s part of the game.”