Brock Purdy is a skilled quarterback, but his 49ers role extends far beyond his on-field abilities.
The 24-year-old certainly has stepped up as a locker-room leader since San Francisco selected him last overall in the 2022 NFL Draft, and Purdy's maturity and empathy were on full display after teammate Ronnie Bell's crucial dropped pass in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams.
"Yeah, I told him this is a team sport, dude, so for you to hang your hat on, it was all my fault kind of thing. I just sat down next to him, I'm like, ‘Bro, it takes everybody for four quarters. Everybody has their moments and plays, and that's why it's a team sport, man. You’ve got 10 other guys on the field with you,' " Purdy recalled to reporters Thursday. "And more than anything, he is a brother of all of ours, and we’ve got his back. We go through some stuff like this, and it's a long season.
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"So, you're going to need everybody. It takes everybody. So, keep your head up, learn from it. I'm not saying that's OK. Like, we have a standard here to be great and excellent, and that goes for myself. So, learn from it. We’ve got your back and keep your head up. It's a long season. He's a good kid. We love going to war with him, and he's going to be just fine."
"Keep your head up, man. It's a long season."
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) September 27, 2024
Brock Purdy revealed the words of encouragement he shared with Ronnie Bell after last week's game 🤝 pic.twitter.com/f4eECMdYsQ
In the 49ers' stunning 27-24 loss to the Rams this past Sunday at SoFi Stadium, Bell was in position to catch a deep pass from Purdy that potentially would have placed San Francisco in field-goal range with just over a minute left in a tie game.
But the pass slipped through Bell's hands, and the 49ers ended up losing the game by a field goal. Despite the critical error, Purdy was able to encourage Bell and remind the sophomore wide receiver the loss wasn't just on his shoulders.
San Francisco 49ers
“I’m going to be honest, that was probably the best thing for me in the last couple days was Purdy coming and talking to me, and really helping me lift my spirits, man," Bell told reporters Wednesday. "It helps a lot to have guys having your back like that. And he helped me a ton to get back up, so I can move on, move past it and be ready to continue to help the team win.”
The 49ers committed blunders in all three phases of the game that led to the embarrassing loss and allowed the Rams to overcome a 14-point first-quarter deficit. San Francisco fell to 1-2 on the 2024 NFL season with the defeat, but as Purdy said, there's plenty of football left to play.
And 49ers general manager/president of football operations John Lynch knows that, too.
"When you're on these teams, you become family. And you know, people have rough days," Lynch told KNBR's "Murph & Markus" on Friday morning. "I saw that it meant a lot to Ronnie that Brock was one of the first guys who came over and said, 'Listen, long season.' And yeah, there's some people who've had a real harsh, visceral reaction ... 'Why is he still on your team?' Well, because people make mistakes. ...
"We know this, that you have to make plays when your numbers called. [Bell] didn't. He's not the only one who didn't make plays, and that's why we lost a really tough game -- one we should have finished, frankly -- and you give the Rams credit, but you also go back to the drawing board and know that we have to be better.
"I could tell you, we practiced really well last week. Ronnie practiced well last week. And sometimes it's more than just practice. It's about going and doing it on game day, and you got to make plays when your number's called. But I think our whole team fell short there."
It's clear the 49ers are moving on from their loss to the Rams while using it as a valuable learning lesson. And there's no denying Purdy played a part in helping Bell put the incident behind him.
“I just think when it's the right time and the right moment with whoever, especially young players, just because I know how it felt and how they feel because I still go through stuff right now like when I don't play my best or I could have done better or I missed a couple plays, and you're just wanting it back," Purdy said. "And it's nice having a guy come up to you and a teammate that goes to war with you being able to say, ‘Hey man, it's OK. Let's learn from it, but I’ve got your back, bro. It takes so much to win in this league, and it takes everybody.’
"And so, when I was a rookie, it was really nice having [linebacker] Fred [Warner] or [defensive end Nick] Bosa or [linebacker] Dre Greenlaw, like these guys that come up to me and just tell me that they’ve got my back, and I'm like, dang. It just gives you a perspective of, I don't have to go out there and do it all on my own. I’ve got other guys around me, and I’ve got a team around me to help be successful. So, it's just sort of reinforcing that time and time again when I see it with some guys.”
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