On Sunday night, Brock Purdy admitted that he had given some thought to the events of last season’s NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The quarterback said, “It was sort of in my mind, I got hurt here,” after the 49ers defeated the Eagles 42–19 at Lincoln Financial Field. That was in late January of this year, but would it be a game of retaliation or something similar? No.
Purdy’s throwing elbow suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, necessitating extensive offseason surgery. On the game’s sixth play, he was hurt. Furthermore, Purdy was unable to throw when he was compelled to return to the field in the third quarter following the concussion of backup quarterback Josh Johnsons.
Purdy stated on Sunday that the past was not the most significant factor for him or the 49ers.
“For me, it was Week 13,” Purdy said. “We’re going into a new year. It’s a hostile environment. We needed this game. We need this game and, obviously, we have some really important games coming up too, so that’s where I was at with that.”
Purdy stated that he did not want to be sidetracked by hypothetical scenarios from the previous season. His goal is to give the 49ers his all in the remaining games of the season.
“This is 2023 and that’s where my mind was at,” he said.
With four touchdowns, no interceptions, and 19 of 27 pass attempts completed for 314 yards, Purdy had a fantastic game.
Purdy’s performance has resulted in 23 touchdowns and six interceptions, giving him an NFL-best passer rating of 116.1.
However, the 49ers’ start to the game on Sunday was not good. The 49ers’ first two possessions of the game resulted in negative yardage and no first downs.
“No one was freaking out or anything,” Purdy said.
Whatever 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan dialed up could not be stopped once the team got going. In a row, the 49ers’ touchdown drives totaled 85, 90, 75, 77, 75, and 47 yards.
“Especially for myself as a quarterback, I just needed to see myself completing a ball, get a completion, get things rolling, and we did that,” Purdy said. “Kyle called some plays to allow us to get the ball out of my hands pretty quick to get into a rhythm.
“Once we did that, we rolled from there, and we didn’t look back.”