Quarterback Brock Purdy’s career got off to an historic start and as of late “Mr. Irrelevant’s” hot start has significantly cooled. After winning his first 10 regular-season games, Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers are on a three-game losing streak.
The team started 5-0 and now sit at 5-3 as it heads into Week 10. The 23-year-old has thrown five interceptions in the last three games and he is taking accountability for his on-field mistakes.
When he was asked what he said to the team following their third loss, he said (via NFL.com), “Yeah, just owning up to turning the ball over. How hard everyone puts their time and effort into this whole thing. The organization, the coaches, the players, everyone plays hard, there’s no question, no doubt about that.”
Purdy said it was important for him to speak to the team directly about his latest mistakes.
“So I just wanted the team to know and hear from my own mouth, face-to-face like, I got to be better,” No. 13 said. “I own up to the mistakes that I’ve made and certain points in the game. I have to be smart with the ball. The quarterback is one of the most trusted guys in the organization because we get the ball in our hands every play to make a decision. So just owning up to that and understanding that I have to be better. So I just telling the guys that just came from the heart and that was it.”
Purdy’s play went from one of the best in the first five games of the season, to some of the worst in the team’s last three games. He went from a 72.1 completion percentage in the wins, to a 62.5 completion percentage in the losses. He had nine touchdowns with no interceptions in the first five weeks, to three touchdowns and five interceptions in the last three. His passer rating to start the year was 123.1 and was 77.9 in the losses.
The team is coming off its bye week, something Purdy used as a way to reset. It seems like the off week came at the right time for the second-year QB. He described the bye as being “huge.”
“Looking at the good, looking at the bad of the first half, how hot we started and then obviously the last three games of like, ‘all right, what’s going on’?” Purdy noted. “What could we be better at, for myself especially? It was huge. But to be able to like step away from the game, take a breather, understand where we’re at, what we have to do, it was huge for me to clear my mind and then come back like excited for the second half and for the stretch of some good football that we have to play. So I feel good.”
Purdy may have his wide receiver Deebo Samuel, who has been dealing with a shoulder injury, back, which would be a major addition for the offense.
The 49ers face the 6-2 Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET at TIAA Bank Field.
