It took Brock Purdy 12 games to experience his first regular-season loss since taking over as the 49ers' starting quarterback last season.
San Francisco's perfect 5-0 record was shattered by the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, but former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky believes Purdy still is an elite quarterback despite the disappointing loss.
"First of all, yes, I think he's an elite NFL quarterback because the production is elite," Orlovsky said Monday on ESPN's "First Take." "I define elite as this: What do you do in two different situations? Number one, when it's really good around you. When we got a good offense, we got a good scheme, we got really good players. Can you play at an incredibly high level very consistently? Brock Purdy has checked that. Absolutely.
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"Or, when we are a little bit depleted. Maybe the left tackle's not there. Our backup wide receiver has to be the No. 1 because the starter's out. Can you carry us just a little bit? Can you still play at a high level? We haven't seen that version of Brock Purdy. We haven't seen that. He hasn't been asked to be in that version. We've seen that with Patrick [Mahomes], we've seen that with Josh Allen, we've seen it with Lamar Jackson."
Purdy hasn't experienced much adversity at the pro-level, but Sunday's Week 6 loss could serve as a wake-up call for not only the 23-year-old quarterback, but the entire team.
In 2022, the Philadelphia Eagles began the season 8-0 on the backs of their explosive offense led by quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts finished second in MVP voting last year after logging nearly 4,500 total yards (3,701 passing, 760 rushing) and 35 total touchdowns (22 passing, 13 rushing), leading Philadelphia to a Super Bowl appearance.
While there's still plenty of football to be played this season, Orlovsky believes the same argument made for Hurts last year should apply to Purdy this year.
San Francisco 49ers
"We have to say the same about Brock Purdy," Orlovsky proclaimed. "We can't laud Jalen Hurts for it, and then knock Brock Purdy for it."
In Sunday's loss, Purdy had the worst statistical game of his career, completing only 12 of 27 pass attempts for 125 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The 49ers lost two of their biggest offensive weapons when both Deebo Samuel (shoulder) and Christian McCaffrey (oblique) exited the game early, but Purdy took full responsibility for the loss and said he has to be better.
But before experiencing his first regular-season loss, Purdy had completed 245 of 356 pass attempts (68 percent) for 3,125 yards and 25 touchdowns to three interceptions with four additional touchdowns on the ground in 13 regular-season and playoff games since emerging as QB1 back in December last season, excluding the NFC Championship Game.
While San Francisco's first loss of the season strengthened Purdy's doubters, it also boosted the young quarterback's believers as he focuses on getting back into the win column.