Purdy: « When things don’t go my way, it’s understanding I can’t be acting out. I have to be real with myself and be better. »
— Nobody wanted to say that Brock Purdy was due for a night like this, but honestly, he probably was. Nobody in the 49ers organization wanted to watch him throw four interceptions against the Ravens. Nobody in red and gold wanted Purdy to go from MVP frontrunner to the main reason they got crushed on national TV.
Nobody in a 49ers uniform wanted Purdy to hit this bump in the road at full speed and full-tilt splatter.
But yes, everybody knew something like this was destined to happen at some point, and better now than in the playoffs. Subconsciously or not, the 49ers were braced for it. Purdy’s storybook season had been going on and on, but it couldn’t and wouldn’t go on perfectly forever. Nobody can avoid a clunker. Nobody is above this. The 49ers understood it. And in the minutes and hours after the 49ers’ 33-19 loss at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night, it was quite clear that Purdy absolutely understood this, too.
He talked quietly with teammates in the locker room. He walked to the shower room. He got dressed. He nodded at people he knew. He walked to the podium. All the same as he’d done after his best games. No sigh, bite or glower. Just the same. Except, of course, on this day, Purdy had just come off the worst game of his NFL career, by far, and had to try to explain the performance. And most importantly: What happens now?
“For me, it’s like I’ve gotta ask myself, ‘All right, who are you, what do you stand for? Who are you when things are good? Who are you when things don’t go your way?’” Purdy said when asked what was going through his mind as the interceptions piled up. “It’s easy to be riding high and thinking you’re the man when things are going well, winning games and all that kind of stuff. And you don’t really see a whole lot of adversity in some games and whatnot. And this is the reality of the NFL. …
“I have to look myself in the mirror, watch the plays, get better, make some cleaner decisions, help my team put up points and score and protect the ball. And when things don’t go my way, it’s understanding I can’t be acting out. I have to be real with myself and be better. But I want to be the same guy every day, be consistent in what I do, how I do things, whether things are going well or not. I know who I am, and I’m not going to waver in that. I’ve said that before, I’ll continue to hang my hat on that.”
Is that the right answer? There’s no guarantee that Purdy will immediately bounce back from this outing, especially after having to exit a game in the fourth quarter on Monday after suffering from a shoulder stinger for the second consecutive week. There’s no guarantee of anything for an NFL quarterback, going up against defenses that are filled with fast and large people.
