Brock Purdy is letting it rip.
The 49ers quarterback and his in-practice interceptions have been one of the many training camp talking points thus far, but Purdy isn't worried about how many picks he has thrown as he works his way back from surgery to repair the torn UCL in his throwing elbow.
"Yeah, I mean, for myself obviously I take pride in not turning the ball over," Purdy told reporters after the 49ers' 21-20 preseason win over the Denver Broncos on Saturday at Levi's Stadium. "Yes, it's huge as a quarterback to be able to make smart decisions every single snap, every single play. So, it's not like I'm just going out there throwing stuff up and saying, alright, I'm trying stuff out. It’s nothing like that. I'm a competitor. I want to be able to rip the ball, obviously coming off an injury, sort of seeing where I'm at with some throws and stuff, that's a thing.
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"But outside of that, it's practice for a reason and obviously, I'm trying to find that edge and that little chip every single day. And so yeah, I just keep working at my craft and go about it that way. But, to make a big deal about interceptions and stuff at practice and whatnot, I don't know, if you get tied up in that and wrapped up in that, I feel like it's sort of for nothing in a sense. Like what matters is game days on Sundays and being in the moment and making the right decision when you're in real situational football and stuff. But you can work on that at practice."
Before completing four of five passing attempts for 65 yards in nine snaps against the Broncos, Purdy ended Thursday's practice on target with zero interceptions against the 49ers' first-team defense. But the day before that, Purdy threw two picks with another couple of near misses -- and it hasn't been an uncommon sight on the practice field.
But like his young quarterback, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan isn't concerned by the situation.
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"I definitely like having interceptions a lot more in practice than in games," Shanahan said told reporters last Wednesday. "One thing Brock does is he lets it rip. He’s not worried about anything else, especially not worried about what counts as interceptions in practice.
"That doesn’t mean they’re all right. But I do like when he lets it rip."
Purdy's practice restrictions were removed last week, allowing the starter to practice full time and take every first-team rep. Saturday marked his first game action since his injury, sustained during last season's NFC Championship Game, and he told reporters that his recovery has included some exploratory pass attempts.
"You know, with this whole process with my arm and stuff coming back, there's times where you get into an 11-on-11 situation and there's tight windows and stuff, and you're looking off guys and you want to see, alright, can I fit this in there or not?" Purdy said. "And so, I feel like I've tried that out a little bit all throughout camp. And so, you watch the film, you learn from it, and it's something that you come out the next day and be like, alright, I can do this or I can't, you know? So yeah, it's a good time to try stuff out."
Through Wednesday's practice, Purdy has thrown 10 interceptions in training camp -- or a 5.1 percent interception rate. But during his rookie campaign, Purdy threw just four picks across 233 attempts despite a 5.9 interception rate in his first training camp (h/t The Athletic's David Lombardi).
Purdy didn't throw any interceptions in his limited action Saturday, and the 49ers Faithful certainly hope that trend continues as the 2023 NFL regular season gets underway.