Brock Purdy enjoyed a 10-win, regular-season streak to begin his starting career. Now the San Francisco 49ers greenhorn quarterback is dealing with the fallout from a three-game losing streak entering Week 10.
The key coming off a bye week, heading into Sunday's showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars, is avoiding mistakes after the second-year signal-caller threw five interceptions in the past three games.
"Yeah, just owning up to turning the ball over," Purdy said when asked how he addressed the team after the latest loss, via the official transcript. "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.
"So I just wanted the team to know and hear from my own mouth, face-to-face like, I got to be better. 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 second season has been a game of streaks.
- Weeks 1-5: 5-0 record; 72.1 completion percentage; 254.2 pass YPG; 9-0 TD-INT ratio; 123.1 passer rating.
- Weeks 6-8: 0-3 record; 62.5 completion percentage; 254.0 pass YPG; 3-5 TD-INT ratio; 77.9 passer rating.
- Weeks 1-5 NFL ranks: tied first in QB record; second in completion percentage; first in TD-INT ratio; first in passer rating.
- Weeks 6-8: tied last in QB record; 23rd in completion percentage; 30th in TD-INT ratio; 27th in passer rating.
Purdy said the bye week was big for mentally getting back on track for the stretch run.
"Yeah, it's 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'?" he said. "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."
Not only did the bye week aid Purdy's mental reset, but it should also help get some injured players back. Wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder) is on track to play. Left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) is more of a question mark but did practice on a limited basis on Thursday.
