49ers' Brandon Aiyuk, Kyle Shanahan explain defenses of Brock Purdy

As shared by David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone, San Francisco 49ers wide receivers Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel recently took to social media to defend quarterback Brock Purdy following criticisms of Purdy's play in this past Saturday's 24-21 divisional playoff win over the Green Bay Packers. 

Aiyuk elaborated on his take while speaking with reporters on Wednesday. 

"I'm not really talking or focused on his critics," Aiyuk said about Purdy, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN. "I love playing football with him and he's the reason I'm sitting here today feeling like I have an opportunity to play my best football because of a quarterback like him."

Purdy was routinely referred to as a "game manager" throughout the season and, more recently, as the worst quarterback remaining in the postseason tournament before he noticeably struggled to deal with wet and rainy conditions versus the Packers. However, the 24-year-old ultimately completed six-of-seven passes for 47 yards on what became a game-winning drive that propelled the 49ers to this coming Sunday's NFC Championship Game against the Detroit Lions. 

"(He's) steady," Aiyuk added about Purdy, according to Kirk Larrabee of 49ers WebZone. "(A) dawg. Just a football player." 

In total, Purdy connected on 23-of-39 pass attempts for 252 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions against the Packers. A couple of his throws may have been picked off on another day if not for drops, but head coach Kyle Shanahan insisted his club is a victory away from Super Bowl LVIII largely because of the efforts of the signal-caller. 

"Brock did some really good things and that would've been impossible to win the game without him," Shanahan said about how Purdy played against Green Bay. 

As of late Thursday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook listed the 49ers as seven-point favorites against the Lions. Beating Detroit and even covering the spread may not be enough for Purdy to silence all of his detractors, but he likely won't care about such things if he knows by late Sunday night he and his teammates will take the field at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11.