It’s rare that Kyle Shanahan gives effusive praise to his players, but his reviews of rookie QB Brock Purdy were glowing after the 49ers’ 21-13 win over the Seahawks to clinch the NFC West crown in Seattle.
Shanahan, who’s been coaching in the NFL since 2004, went so far as to say Purdy is the most poised rookie QB he’s seen.
“He’s definitely the poised rookie I’ve ever had,” Shanahan told reporters after the 49ers’ win. “He’s been like that since he’s gotten here. From what I hear about him in college I think he was very similar, just starting as a freshman, and he’s been great.”
Poise is perhaps the most important thing for Purdy while guiding this 49ers club. They’re driven by their run game and defense. All Purdy has to do is keep the train on the tracks by avoiding catastrophic mistakes. Poise will help him avoid those.
It will also allow him to make plays like his third-and-1 scramble with 2:42 remaining in Thursday’s game and the 49ers clinging to a 21-13 lead. That run effectively sealed the win, and it was the QB calling his own number in the game’s biggest moment.
That trait was also critical on a short week in one of the toughest road environments in the NFL. Purdy was also banged up and Shanahan said the rookie even handled that well.
“He was poised all week,” Shanahan said. “Even him being unsure whether he’d be able to go or not. I think that was uneasy for him because he didn’t know what to expect until he got in the game. Under our circumstances we didn’t have any other options or choices. We were gonna see how long he could last and we were ready to go with Josh (Johnson), but he got comfortable and got better as the game went. It was pretty unbelievable.”
Purdy dealt with oblique and rib injuries that kept him from practicing all week. Shanahan told reporters Purdy didn’t throw a football until a walk-through in the hotel ballroom before the game. They also limited his pregame warmup reps.
Poise will be a word we use plenty with Purdy down the stretch, and it will help him above all other things as the team enters the postseason and tries to do the impossible by winning a Super Bowl with a rookie seventh-round pick under center.
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