How Does 49ers QB Brock Purdy Respond to Adversity?
Analyzing how San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy responds to adversity.
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00:00 Let's talk about other people who are sort of under fire.
00:03 >> Okay.
00:04 >> Brock Purdy, this is his first taste of adversity.
00:08 Brock Purdy, everything's been so easy for him, he got hurt.
00:11 But now he's lost three in a row.
00:14 And he's been a central reason into a lot of these losses.
00:18 >> Yes. >> How do you think he's handling
00:20 adversity and how do you think he's going to handle adversity?
00:23 >> I think he's handling it well.
00:25 You can see that there's always been two different tracks, if you will,
00:30 on how the team talks about Brock and how coaches talk about Brock.
00:33 And then when Brock himself talks, right?
00:35 Even in the summer, it seemed as though that Brock was kind of tempering
00:38 expectations on even the pace of his own rehab coming into the season.
00:44 Even when we talked about one of the things that ingratiated Brock with the team
00:49 is his maturity and it's showing through.
00:50 I don't see him necessarily at the podium panicking, right?
00:55 We haven't had any gaps or any gotcha moments from Brock.
00:58 He's been class personified and very professional.
01:00 So from that standpoint, he's exactly what we've expected and more, right?
01:04 As far as what you want out of not only a young player but a quarterback, right?
01:08 He's looked quarterbackian, right?
01:11 Now, in the games, when he has struggled,
01:14 there are things that you wanna see a little bit more of that are alarming, right?
01:20 And the reason why they're alarming is because they lean against what he does
01:24 as well when things are going good, such as processing and game management.
01:29 There are times where it seems as though that Brock is getting the ball out a little
01:32 too late as far as getting out of the huddle, right?
01:35 Getting to the line of scrimmage.
01:36 I think we had to delay a game during one of our drives.
01:39 Also, putting a little bit too much on himself and not letting Kyle's plays
01:45 shield him for what he needs to do during two minute drives or the lack thereof.
01:50 So it's a little bit of yin and yang, good and bad.
01:53 But all in all, from a kid who hasn't played a full season yet coming out,
01:57 I'd say he is exactly where he needs to be.
01:59 Now, the progression track on where the team thinks he needs to be,
02:05 the PR side of what fans think where he needs to be, that's a whole nother
02:09 discussion.
02:09 >> I think it's interesting because he's had all the success in the NFL.
02:17 It wasn't this easy for him in college.
02:19 This is a guy who struggled in college to a degree, lost a lot of games in college.
02:24 And I'm looking in 2019, he lost four of his last six.
02:27 And in 2021, he lost four of his last six.
02:30 So even in college, sometimes when adversity would hit him,
02:33 he wouldn't necessarily respond.
02:37 And I think it's interesting,
02:38 he's had these problems in the fourth quarter when it's time to be heroic.
02:42 He's had these problems when he's down.
02:44 And it seems like, I don't know, it seems like it's snowballing, man.
02:47 He had one turnover three weeks ago, then two turnovers and three turnovers.
02:50 I wonder when he's sitting in the meeting,
02:53 watching himself struggle for the first time.
02:56 What's he thinking?
02:57 How hard is he on himself?
02:58 How does he handle, how honest is he with himself?
03:02 Man, that's terrible.
03:04 >> Right. >> He's been here before.
03:05 This is interesting.
03:06 I think we're gonna learn, because if he can't handle adversity,
03:09 if he can't handle fourth quarter, if he can't handle being down, he's a flash.
03:13 >> I mean, yeah, I mean, it's teetering on that.
03:16 I mean, look, all of the conversation plays.
03:20 On one side when he goes five and O, and he's looking like he's fitting hat and
03:25 hand and glove into the offense.
03:28 We hear everything as far as MVP, right?
03:33 So I mean, these are the druthers of being an NFL quarterback.
03:36 If you're gonna be a quarterback in the NFL,
03:38 then you're gonna have to understand that you gotta take the good with the bad.
03:41 And right now there's been bad.
03:42 There's been damn near a whole month of bad.
03:44 And even in the five and O, even in the five games, there were bad games, right?
03:49 So I feel as though that there are some people who are really trying to soften
03:54 the blow and really hone in on these three games.
03:58 But the three games aren't the only bad games that we've seen from Brock, right?
04:01 And as a matter of fact, even in those three games, the Cincinnati game,
04:05 he did well.
04:07 I really didn't have a problem with how Brock plays.
04:09 It was just when it counted, and that's what you get paid for, when it counts.
04:13 So it's gonna be a labor of love because we're still hearing things.
04:19 Also, Grant, we're hearing things about Brock being still letting people know
04:24 post, I mean, in pregame interviews that he's not healthy.
04:28 He's not 100% back yet.
04:30 So that's lingering.
04:32 So it's an ongoing issue, but
04:37 I feel like if anybody could have needed a bye, it's Brock Purdy.
04:41 >> We gotta see how he bounces back, because if he continues his downward
04:45 spiral, they need to make a change.
04:48 That's what's so disconcerting about what's happening.
04:50 It looks like he's in a downward spiral.
04:53 And is it because he can't handle adversity?
04:55 Is he being too hard on himself?
04:56 Does he have a little too much Nick Mullins in him?
04:59 What's gonna happen with Brock Purdy here?
05:01 And he has to think about this all week.
05:05 He has to watch his bad clips all week.
05:08 I don't know.
05:09 >> Yeah, I mean, but he should wanna watch his bad clips all week.
05:13 If he doesn't want to, then you really don't need to be in the job.
05:17 I don't see Brock shying away from anything like that.
05:19 I really do believe that there's a way around this spotty play.
05:26 And what's great about it is that Brock just needs to do his part because it's not
05:30 all Brock, right?
05:32 I could see if this was a singular conversation where we're just focused on
05:35 Brock, man.
05:36 Everything is working but Brock, right?
05:38 But the way we started this season was, and let's not forget this.
05:43 The way we started this season was is that this team was saying that Brock
05:46 was enough, right?
05:48 He was the guy.
05:49 So really Brock hasn't been getting the support that he needs.
05:53 So I mean, what are we gonna do?
05:56 Are we gonna watch Brock carry the team?
05:58 Which we starting to see that that's not an option, right?
06:02 So I feel like we're slowly but
06:03 surely this picture is slowly but surely coming into focus.
06:06 Where the team needs to be helping Brock.
06:10 >> Right, I'd also say that Brock needs to help himself here because it seems like
06:14 they don't need Brock to carry the team.
06:17 They need Brock to stop turning the ball over.
06:19 They need Brock to stop losing games.
06:21 And that's what it is.
06:24 And so this is all between him and him right now.
06:27 He needs to dig deep within himself and figure out why are you doing this?
06:32 Why are you losing games to teams you shouldn't lose games?
06:36 Why are you giving the ball away?
06:38 Why are you choking in the fourth quarter?
06:40 For example, hold on.
06:41 I think that the narrative and the story about Brock is changing big time.
06:44 It went from great story, you can't criticize him, to, well,
06:48 he's a starting quarterback who's now lost three in a row.
06:51 I kinda compare it to Tony Romo.
06:52 Tony Romo was an undrafted free agent.
06:54 He was a great story for a while.
06:55 But when you look back on Tony Romo's career, no one cares about that.
06:58 I mean, a lot of people wouldn't even know he's an undrafted free agent.
07:00 They just say, choker, do a lot of picks.
07:03 >> Yeah, I mean, and really, I'm glad you finished off with that.
07:08 Because out of all of the characteristics, right, or
07:11 the superlatives about Brock's game, right, his maturity, his processing,
07:16 his elite anticipation, his athleticism outside of the pocket,
07:21 his off schedule play, quarterbacks are defined by turnovers.
07:25 They are defined by turnovers, that is the NFL, that that's what defines you.
07:30 There are tons of- >> No other position can lose the game
07:33 quicker than the quarterback.
07:35 >> No other position, and honestly, if you're gonna look at things that,
07:39 I mean, let's be honest, the number one thing with Jimmy was what?
07:44 Injuries and turnovers, injuries and turnovers.
07:47 So everything else in between is a game,
07:50 injuries and turnovers, so everything else in between, it can look good.
07:56 And we can just get to it another way where now, instead of when Kyle calls
08:01 plays where the first and second, third read isn't there,
08:04 now we have a quarterback that can get out and create.
08:08 But we still have to face our demons, and that is that we've gotta rectify what
08:13 seems to be a little bit of a trait that you reported throughout the summer,
08:17 you talked about.
08:19 We all saw the turnover worthy plays when Brock was playing even in run last year.
08:24 We saw those throw previous years coming up, and now you're starting to see
08:29 defenses actually put together game plans to not only exploit that about Brock,
08:34 but exploit it when they really need it the most, right?
08:39 Minnesota and Cincinnati, they didn't get lucky, they didn't get lucky.
08:45 What they did is they watched Cleveland's film, and
08:48 they saw Wosu make that pick, all right?
08:50 And then they schemed it, okay?
08:53 And what they realized is that, okay, we may not be able to do this all game, but
08:58 we know if we stay close enough, we could do it when the game counts.
09:01 That's gamesmanship, that's football.
09:03 The thing about it is that our problem is that we have lost
09:08 games to the softest part of our schedule, right?
09:12 We're going to see teams that can actually do what Cincinnati did late,
09:16 what Minnesota did intermittently throughout the game.
09:21 We're gonna start playing defenses that can do that all game, all game.
09:25 That is gonna be the modus operandi.
09:27 So we gotta get ready, and that's what they have to get prepared for for the bye.
09:31 >> Yeah, so Brock, your homework at the bye week,
09:33 it's not that you need to step it up.
09:35 It's that you need to turn it around.
09:37 You need to sort of find who you were before this hit.
09:40 Because right now, you're looking like a guy who's sort of buckling under
09:43 the adversity.
09:44 [MUSIC]