Cowboys' Mike McCarthy shares high praise for 49ers' Brock Purdy

On Wednesday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan pushed back against any notion that Brock Purdy is little more than a system quarterback. 

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy went even further while speaking about Purdy ahead of the upcoming "Sunday Night Football" game between 3-1 Dallas and the 4-0 49ers at San Francisco's Levi's Stadium. 

"I think the biggest thing is you can see he totally has command of the offense," McCarthy said about Purdy, as shared by Tristi Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area. "I had a chance to see him play a lot last year. I was very impressed. His instincts, his awareness, ball placement. He's playing probably a notch above where he played last year."

The final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy famously won his first seven pro starts (playoffs included) before he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow during the NFC Championship Game. According to ESPN stats, the 23-year-old ended Week 4 of this season ranked first in the NFL among qualified players with an 84.6 adjusted QBR and a 115.1 passer rating. He's second in the league with 9.1 yards per pass attempt and matched five touchdown passes with zero interceptions over the campaign's first four games. 

"When you look at his career, so much is made about measurables when these young men come out in the draft," McCarthy added about Purdy. "But he's played high-quality football his whole life. I mean this guy was born to play quarterback."

ESPN stats show that the Cowboys enter Week 5 with the NFC's top pass defense that allowed an average of 148.0 passing yards per game over the past month. As of Thursday afternoon, OddsChecker listed the 49ers as slight favorites (-180, -3.5) to defeat Dallas in front of a home crowd and a primetime television audience.