SANTA CLARA — There was only about a minute to go in the 49ers’ media session Tuesday with coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
Time was running out.
All manner of 49ers topics were covered with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday. The contract status of Jauan Jennings and the dearth of wide receivers on the roster. Who is healthy and who isn’t quite ready to practice. The legal status of Deommodore Lenoir. The importance of integrating the rookies and making sure second-year players take a big step up.
The usual stuff.
And not a single question about quarterback Brock Purdy, who has been a central topic of conversation on a star-studded roster ever since Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot on Dec. 4, 2022. Nobody knew it at the time, but he was suddenly heir to the Joe Montana-Steve Young throne, entrusted with leading the 49ers to a championship.
The last pick of the draft is long gone. In its place is a quarterback with a five-year contract extension that could be worth $265 million. It may have changed Purdy’s life, but not his approach.
“It doesn’t matter how much I’m getting paid,” Purdy said during his media session. “I’m going to go out there and any time I step out on the field, I’m the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers. There’s a standard that I have to play at and a chip I have to have on my shoulder every single day. I don’t look at it any differently. I never have.”
Shanahan and Lynch have always had faith in Purdy publicly ever since the 49ers head coach called him the “real deal” as a rookie. The truth about those in charge of NFL personnel is that they’re always behind their players, right up to the moment when they’re not.
Now that Purdy has been locked up contractually, it will at least cut down on a lot of the speculation of whether “Mr. Irrelevant” can be a franchise quarterback. His paycheck says he is. Case closed.
Huge money can make for huge changes in terms of attitude, temperament, worth ethic and lifestyle. And there’s no way to know how those changes can manifest themselves until it actually happens.
Given that Purdy essentially saved the jobs of both Shanahan and Lynch while serving as an eraser to the Trey Lance mistake, it makes sense they should feel good about having Purdy as the unquestioned face of the franchise.
“Brock’s played at a very high level since he’s been here, since his first game to his last game,” Shanahan said regarding Purdy just before the media session wrapped up. “That’s why he earned the contract. The amount of money and the amount of coverage leads to all these other expectations.
“Brock needs to play how he’s always played and get better like everyone else. Brock’s had a short career so far and he’s had a hell of an offseason . . . it hasn’t been fake. The way he works and what he puts on film, he will keep getting better.”
Coach and player have reached an understanding. Shanahan is blunt and unsparing when it comes to making corrections behind closed doors. Purdy would have it no other way.
“I don’t want someone that’s going to sugarcoat it,” Purdy said. “If we get this moment in the fourth quarter, you’re going to be the guy who makes this completion, and we believe in you to do it, so do it. That’s the kind of coaching I want.”
Purdy and Shanahan are inextricably linked to the point that there’s no sense in trying to determine whether Purdy saved Shanahan or Shanahan created Purdy. Both are true.
When the 49ers take the field Wednesday for their first practice, the two will embark on their most important year together, one that will determine whether the 49ers are both too old and too young at the same time and if they’ve managed to keep their postseason window ajar for the 2025 season.
The 49ers’ Brock Purdy has shown the ability to throw from different angles and arm slots. File photo
Purdy and Lenoir received financial commitments that could keep them with the 49ers for years to come. It’s a different story for Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, Trent Williams and maybe even Nick Bosa, who could use a huge year to validate the contract he signed two years ago that made him (for a while anyway) the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.
So this is Purdy’s team, and no amount of hand-wringing by non-believers is going to change the way he goes about business. Although Purdy got more creative last season, often by necessity, he seeks more fluidity in his game, calling himself “stiff.”
He’ll lead by example has gradually become more vocal as well.
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“We’ve got young guys coming in, new guys coming in,” Purdy said. “It’s not easy, it’s the NFL. You have to go out and earn it every single day. More than anything it’s going to get us ready for the fire that we’re about to encounter when it comes to the season. You want guys who are battle-tested and they’ve been through the moments and high-pressure situations. This is a good time for guys to compete and take the next separate themselves.”
Purdy knows all about it. He’s led his team from behind in the playoffs and won. Led his team from behind in the Super Bowl and lost. Then watched as the 2024 49ers crumbled around him and brought him down to earth.
He’s gotten too much credit and sometimes not enough, and it goes with the territory.
All without changing the nature of who he is and what he’s all about.
But injuries aside, there are no more gray areas. It’s Brock’s team now for better or worse and the most important training camp of his career will help set the table for what’s next for the 49ers.