49ers HC reveals when he first thought Brock Purdy could be 2023 starter

It appears San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan realized Brock Purdy could be his 2023 starting quarterback well before Shanahan officially announced that decision. 

For a piece published on Monday, Matt Barrows of The Athletic explained that Purdy's first three games in relief of injured veteran Jimmy Garoppolo this past December helped the coach determine that the 2022 rookie "could lead the team to the playoffs." Specifically, Purdy impressed Shanahan by playing through pain in the Week 15 victory over the Seattle Seahawks that was related to a broken rib the 23-year-old suffered during the previous game, his first career NFL start, versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Purdy revealed the exact nature of that setback earlier this summer. 

"He talked to me the whole way through it and was accurate the whole time," Shanahan told Barrows about Purdy's performance against Seattle. "And he didn’t make excuses for himself, either. He did have bad plays in there and you never heard, 'Oh, it’s because I’m hurting.' He wasn’t that type of guy. And I think that’s why the players really believed in him, too. The poise, the competitor, everything. It was all real. To me, it was, 'All right, this dude you can trust.'"

Purdy first rose to the top of the depth chart after Garoppolo went down with a broken left foot playing against the Miami Dolphins in Week 13 on Dec. 4. The final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft helped San Francisco notch a 33-17 win over Miami and then picked up victories in his first two starts. 

Purdy said last month the broken rib happened "in the second or third drive of that Tampa game" on Dec. 11, but he nevertheless completed 17 of 26 passes for 217 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the 21-13 win at Seattle on Dec. 15. 

When all was said and done, Purdy won his first seven starts through the playoffs until he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during the NFC Championship Game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He recovered in time to serve as San Francisco's QB1 for the Week 1 matchup at the Pittsburgh Steelers this coming Sunday. 

"When he sat down in February and rewatched all of Purdy’s starts, Shanahan was convinced he had his quarterback for the 2023 season," Barrows added. Shanahan's confidence in Purdy resulted in the 49ers allowing Garoppolo to leave the club via free agency and, later, in the team trading 2021 first-round draft selection Trey Lance to the Dallas Cowboys.