Following a crushing 25-22 Super Bowl LVIII loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 49ers understandably are experiencing many emotions.
But still, quarterback Brock Purdy, who had a decent inaugural Super Bowl performance, earned praise from his teammates and coaches.
In talking to reporters postgame, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan and tight end George Kittle had great things to say about their 24-year-old signal-caller.
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“Hopefully, I’ll spend a little bit of time with [Purdy] tonight,” Shanahan said postgame. “We’ll see how it goes. But you don’t say a lot- there’s not much to say. You let guys deal with [a Super Bowl loss]. You got to feel this. It’s not something that words or anything makes it feel better. You sit there and you deal with it, and you got to do that for a while.
“But I’m so proud of Brock -- How he shows up every week, how he plays. He had an unbelievable year. He did a hell of a job today.”
In his sixth start of his NFL playoff career, Purdy threw for 255 yards and a touchdown, completing 23 of 38 pass attempts.
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Purdy and Kittle also connected on a gutsy fourth-down call in the fourth quarter, a prelude to the 49ers’ second and last touchdown of the game.
Like Shanahan, Kittle was proud of the second-year quarterback.
“I thought [Purdy] did a great job,” Kittle said after the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs. “Just throughout the game, I haven’t watched the tape or anything like that. But Brock seemed like his normal self delivering the ball when he needed to, put it in tight coverages. I think Brock played a hell of a game.”
Shanahan selected Purdy with the 262nd and last 2022 NFL Draft pick -- a move opposed by much of his staff at the time.
After an entire season with the Iowa State product, San Francisco’s seventh-year coach likely is happy he pulled the trigger on a then-risky draft choice.
While the 49ers would love to have a redo of Super Bowl LVIII, San Francisco must shift its focus toward the 2024 NFL season.
Shanahan still has his guy at quarterback, and Purdy only could improve with age and experience.
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