SANTA CLARA -- Brock Purdy's ascencion into NFL superstardom is a one-of-a-kind story, but how exactly did the 49ers quarterback manage to take such a tremendous leap despite an extremely unconventional offseason before his second professional season? Trust and patience.
After tearing his UCL and dealing with a grueling rehab process during the 2023 offseason, Purdy faced the daunting task of continuing his progression while being restricted by a meticulous pitch count that severely limited how often the young quarterback could do the most fundamental task required of the position -- throwing a football.
The difficulty of sustaining an emerging quarterback's growth with a calculated number of reps to work with was an obstacle the entire 49ers organization tackled methodically, crafting a diligent, yet highly inconvenient regimen to safely ease Purdy back into action in time for the regular season.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
You'd think the most challenging aspect of implementing such a regulated workload would be getting Purdy, known for being a fiery competitor, to completely buy in to the short-term sacrifice designed to deliver the best long-term results.
However, the young quarterback's complete trust and patience throughout the process allowed San Francisco to handle its franchise quarterback's return with the utmost care, making things easier for everyone involved, including 49ers passing-game coordinator Klay Kubiak, who served as the team's assistant quarterbacks coach for Purdy's first two seasons.
"It was almost more of a pragmatic challenge of just the schedule. Here's your practice, how many reps does Brock get? How many of these are passes? Which ones you want him to get," Kubiak said. "The semantics of it was challenging, but I think Brock did a good job of being patient and trusting us, and he knew when we said 'Hey, no more,' he was done.
"He trusted us. He trusted our medical people, he was good."
San Francisco 49ers
Purdy's commitment to San Francisco's plan led to a prolific sophomore campaign, as the young quarterback set a 49ers single-season franchise record with 4,280 passing yards, while leading the NFL in passer rating (113.0) and yards per attempt (9.6), firmly placing himself in the MVP conversation week after week.
Finding a path to that critical offseason improvement with an atypical workload wouldn't be possible without Purdy's relentless, yet consistent work ethic.
"I think you noticed it right away when he came in as a rookie, just the way he approaches each day as a new day," Kubiak said. "Very, very low-maintenance in terms of making sure he's on it. Like he's studying, he's prepared, you don't have to worry about that with Brock."
While Purdy's personality immediately endeared him to his 49ers teammates, Kubiak explained how the young quarterback's willingness to absorb constructive criticism from San Francisco's coaching staff is one of the qualities that makes him such a unique player.
"I think the other thing that makes him very special intrinsically is Brock wants to be coached," Kubiak said. "He wants to be told where he can get better, he wants to be told, 'Hey how can I fix this, how can I fix that?' Then he's going to go try to do it, and he's very open to the truth, he's very open to being told where he can grow. I think that's what makes him a special guy, and that's his leadership quality."
Over a year removed from Purdy's elbow surgery and the reduced offseason workload that followed, the script has flipped entirely during the 49ers' 2024 training camp.
"Last year, I was just hoping he was going to be healthy," San Francisco's quarterbacks coach Brian Griese said. "We were taking whatever reps we could get. We were on a pitch count. So every single period we had a certain number of throws -- including warm-ups.
"So, it's so nice this year, first of all, not dealing with that. And then second, that if we need to push it a little bit in a practice to work on something or to take five extra reps after a period, during a special teams period, we can do that. Post-practice he can get out there and throw and move -- it's completely different."
Despite the heavier workload this offseason, Kubiak doesn't notice any significant changes in Purdy's arm, voicing confidence in the young quarterback's future as the 24-year-old works through his first unconstrained training camp as the 49ers' starting quarterback.
"I don't notice the arm, I thought his arm looked good in camp last year," Kubiak said. "He was on a pitch count and everyone was kind of focusing on it, but I thought his arm looked good last year, I think his arm looks great now, it's nice to not have to worry about the pitch count, he can do everything. I think Brock has looked great, he's working his butt off, I just know he's full speed ahead."
Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast