Essentials Inside The Story

• Christian McCaffrey opens up on how he handled Brock Purdy’s mistake-filled night
• George Kittle reveals his real-time reaction to Purdy’s interceptions
• Kyle Shanahan shares the key insight behind Purdy’s rough first half

Brock Purdy‘s return after a six-week injury has been a roller-coaster journey for the San Francisco 49ers fans. The Niners’ QB1 made a grand return in Week 11 with a 200-yard, three-touchdown performance with no turnovers in the victory over the Arizona Cardinals. This wasn’t the case against the Carolina Panthers, where Purdy threw three consecutive interceptions in the first half. But despite this mishap, veteran 49ers stars running back Christian McCaffrey and tight end George Kittle have backed their star short-caller.

McCaffrey, at the press conference after the 20-9 win over Carolina, shared how he didn’t need to say anything to Purdy, as he is a “professional and a really good football player.” The San Francisco RB1 then shared how he wouldn’t need any advice if he were making some mistakes during a game.

“Nobody needs to tell him anything. I think it’s like, if I make a mistake. I know I made a mistake,” McCaffrey said. “If I have a drop, I know somebody says, ‘catch the ball’ it makes you want to knock them out. There’s really nothing to say; you just keep on playing. It’s a long game, and anything can happen, so you don’t say anything to them.”

George Kittle revealed how he advised Brock Purdy to calm himself down during the game.

“After the second one, I just said, ‘Dude, just take a deep breath, man.’” Kittle said in his post-game presser. “You’ve been here, you’re good. Just breathe, let it out, move on to the next play. That’s it. He’s a professional. He knows what he’s doing.”

The star tight end also talked about the third interception wasn’t all Brock Purdy’s fault, as he credited the Panthers for throwing excellent coverage.

“They did a lurk coverage with the backside corner, which was pretty impressive and a cool coverage. So I mean, I don’t expect Brock to see that at all.”

After these comments, what did head coach Kyle Shanahan say about Brock Purdy’s performance against the Carolina Panthers?

How did Kyle Shanahan react to Brock Purdy’s three INTs?

The San Francisco 49ers started the game strong on the offensive front as Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffery kept moving the ball forward. The opening drive spanned 15 plays and lasted nearly nine minutes before resulting in a Jauan Jennings touchdown. But after this score, Purdy’s nightmares began as he threw a longer pass behind Jennings, which allowed cornerback Jaycee Horn to intercept the ball.

Purdy’s second interception was similar, as he attempted to target wide receiver Ricky Pearsall across the goal line. But, unfortunately for the Niners QB1, cornerback Mike Jackson swiftly picked the pass. Then, as revealed by Kittle, the third interception was caused by smart coverage by the Panthers’ defense.

Hence, like Kittle and McCaffery, Kyle Shanahan also backed Brock Purdy, describing his misses as good decisions.

“It makes me a lot more hesitant if they’re all bad decisions,” Shanahan said of Purdy’s turnovers. “But he was seeing it right. They were all good decisions. He just missed the throw on them. Just a hair late and when you’re a hair late on stuff, you can’t throw behind (your receivers).”

With that said, the San Francisco 49ers prevailed despite a disastrous performance by Brock Purdy as Christian McCaffery starred with 24 carries and seven passes for 53 yards. This goes to prove that Shanahan and Co. have a solid team that can make a playoff push as San Francisco remains in 7th place in the NFC.