Brock Purdy and the 49ers are in the midst of a disappointing season, but San Francisco general manager John Lynch remains as confident as ever in the 24-year-old quarterback.
Lynch detailed his continued belief in Purdy during an interview with Brian Murphy and Rod Brooks on KNBR’s “Murph & Markus” show Friday morning.
“Brock has been awesome for us since he stepped on the field. This year has been a little bit of a struggle,” Lynch told Murphy and Brooks. “I saw something this week where … because sometimes you have to step back to really ascertain, ‘What’s gone wrong.’ We’ve got analytics and all those who tell you, ‘OK, here’s the real breakdown.’ But sometimes you do have to step away.
“I saw one thing where last year combined, [Christian] McCaffrey, [Brandon] Aiyuk and Deebo [Samuel] had 40 touchdowns combined between the three of them. This year it’s two. Things are going to be different when that’s the case. And a lot of that’s injury, and there’s other reasons for other parts of that.
“We have a lot of confidence in Brock. One of the things we love about him is his resiliency and his ability to come back after tough snaps, tough games. I think our whole team, that will be tested this year. We all got to do this together. We got to figure outthe reasons where things went wrong, we got to have some good fortune in terms of staying healthy. First and foremost we got to focus on Miami and finish out this year. We’ll be fighting and trying to scratch and claw for every win, whether it has playoff implications or not, because that’s what we’re paid to do and that’s who we are.”
Purdy posted incredible numbers during the 2023 NFL season, finishing fourth in MVP voting after throwing for a franchise-record 4,280 yards with 31 touchdowns and a league-leading 113.0 passer rating.
The third-year NFL quarterback’s numbers have regressed across the board in 2024, with Purdy’s completion percentage, yards per attempt, and passer rating all noticeably lower than a season ago.
McCaffrey and Aiyuk’s extended absence certainly has impacted the 49ers’ offense, with the entire unit looking like a shell of the group that steamrolled opponents at nearly a 30-point per game clip in 2023.
With Purdy due for a lucrative contract extension as he enters the final year of his rookie deal in 2025, it appears Lynch and the rest of San Francisco’s brain trust still envision the 24-year-old as a major part of their plans going forward.
