San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Learning the hard way
Purdy ready to apply tough lessons against Commanders
On Brock Purdy’s first interception in Monday’s loss to the Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback didn’t recognize safety Kyle Hamilton lurking when Purdy targeted wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the end zone.
But the pick involved more than a failure to see a defender. Purdy threw the ill-advised pass because he allowed his vision to be clouded by emotion.
Purdy’s mistake on the 49ers’ first drive in a much-hyped, prime-time game was preceded by consecutive big plays, completions of 58 and 13 yards to tight end George Kittle. And the fired-up 24year-old making his 20th career start was eager to fire another wow completion when that option didn’t exist.
“In the moment, for myself, I was aggressive,” Purdy said. “I was like, ‘All right, just had two big plays, I’m trying to fit this one in.’ Which obviously looking back on it was not the right decision. It wasn’t the smart play as a quarterback.
“That’s something that I have to grow in, in terms of you make some big plays and stuff, but every play has a life of its own.
Now, whatever play is next, you’ve got to play the play the right way and not just feed off the emotion and everything that you felt from the previous plays. That’s something that I had to learn the hard way.”
Purdy’s revealing answer was part of a theme Thursday in a news conference that came on the heels of his first four-interception performance at any level. Purdy cited other lessons learned that he could begin to apply starting Sunday when the 49ers visit Washington needing wins in their final two reg
ular-season games to assure themselves of the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
The good news for Purdy, who fell short against the Ravens and their defense, which is allowing an NFL-best 16.3 points per game? The stage is set for a bounce-back performance against the Commanders (4-11), whose defense is allowing an NFL-worst 30.2 points per game and is being overseen by head coach Ron Rivera after coordinator Jack Del Rio was fired on Nov. 24.
Asked about the challenges Washington’s unit presents, Kittle was at a bit of a loss after discussing Pro Bowl defensive tackles Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen.
“I think, too, you have a lot of guys who are like … they’re trying to put good stuff on tape,” Kittle said. “So they’re still playing at a high level. They’re trying to, at least. You see a lot of effort out there.”
Sunday’s meeting will lack Monday’s big-game atmosphere, which Purdy said got into his head before the meeting of 11-3 teams. Purdy entered as the NFL’s leading MVP candidate and his counterpart, Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, was among his competitors for the award.
“The whole season building up to what they’re saying is a huge game on Christmas, Monday Night Football and all that,” Purdy said. “It was a big game. So for me, it’s a great learning experience just in terms of not buying into what’s going on around and what’s being said.
Instead, executing in the moment. Making the right reads. Being consistent. Protecting the ball.”
Purdy, who hadn’t thrown more than two interceptions or faced a third-quarter deficit of more than 12 points in his first 19 regular-season starts, also offered self-criticism for how he handled a foreign situation.
With 11:45 left in the third quarter, Purdy had already thrown his four picks and the 49ers were trailing 30-12. There was plenty of time to launch a comeback, but the 49ers didn’t score and Purdy completed 8 of 14 passes for 107 yards before he exited with a stinger with eight minutes left.
Purdy said the situation created an internal struggle. He was conscious of avoiding yet another turnover and was also eager to make big plays to quickly trim the deficit.
“It’s just not being in the right state of mind as a quarterback,” Purdy said. “Having the aggressive trigger to make the throw — the big play — but also, ‘Shoot, dude, you don’t want to turn the ball over again.’ It’s just a sucky state of mind to be in.”
In that sense, Purdy ended the lesson-filled loss how he started. After he allowed emotion to influence his first interception on the 49ers’ first possession, his conflicting emotions affected how he finished.
“That’s the learning experience of going back and just taking it and saying every play has a life of its own,” Purdy said. “You have to take it one play at a time and not try to win the game by a couple big plays. … I just wasn’t in the right state of mind towards the end when we’re trying to get back into it. That’s the learning experience.”