Brock Purdy likely lied to the media Sunday, but his fib explains why he commands such respect from his teammates.
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback was asked about an incomplete deep pass that sailed over wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in the third quarter that might have been a 67-yard touchdown in a 38-13 win over the Bears.
Pearsall was open between two defenders about 30 yards downfield, but began running toward the right sideline instead of staying vertical down the middle of the field, causing the incompletion. Purdy punched the air with his right hand after the airmailed pass hit the ground, and Fox analyst Jonathan Vilma explained the miscommunication.
"He's frustrated - not in the throw," Vilma said. "He's frustrated in Pearsall bending that route to a post instead of staying down the seam."
Purdy's competitiveness was evident after the throw, but his accountability was evident after the game. I've covered 12 starting quarterbacks in 15 seasons on the 49ers beat and none have been better than Purdy when it comes to discussing his on-field mistakes, avoiding mitigation and, yes, even lying to protect his teammates.
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Pearsall, of course, is a rookie first-round pick who missed most of training camp with injuries before he missed the season's first six regular-season games after he was shot in the chest. That's been a factor in a challenging debut season that has included just one catch for five yards on five targets in his past four games.
So what happened on that incompletion? Purdy could have subtly assigned the blame to Pearsall by saying something along the lines of "Ricky's doing a great job, but this is a complicated offense and we're working to get on the same page."
Instead, Purdy said Pearsall, playing in his seventh career game, made the correct decision and he messed up.
"I thought he was going to keep it a little bit skinnier up the field and then he saw space," Purdy said. "So he sort of cut across and I just threw the ball early and sort of anticipated and I missed him. I think his decision on going across the middle of the field was a great decision.
"If I would've laid the ball right there for him, it would've been a touchdown. So it's something that he and I - we talked about and I told him, 'We've just got to keep growing together and learning each other and seeing each other in and out of cuts.' But that's something that I missed on him. He executed his job."
Steve Young has often discussed the positive impact it has on a team's culture when the starting QB, the most important and scrutinized player, doesn't shift blame to others, saying it creates a "cascade of accountability."
In Purdy's case, the way he addressed the media when asked about the incompletion to Pearsall sheds light on why head coach Kyle Shanahan chose him, along with cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, to address the team Saturday night.
"When you ask guys to speak, you want to make sure it's guys that people truly respect and they respect how they play and how they carry themselves and how important the job is to them," Shanahan said. "... Those two guys, I just know how much our team respects them, on and off the field.
- It's tempting to say wide receiver Deebo Samuel has lost a step when trying to explain his steep drop-off as a running back this season: Samuel is averaging just 2.9 yards a carry on his 32 attempts after averaging 6.3 yards (in 160 attempts) in his first five seasons.
However, Samuel's stellar recent work as a kickoff returner suggests he still has plenty of juice. He had runbacks of 60 and 43 yards against the Bills on Dec. 1 and on an 87-yarder that was negated by a holding penalty at Green Bay on Nov. 24.
So what's the difference? It's notable that Samuel has broken just one tackle in his 32 attempts in 2024 after he averaged a broken tackle every 8.9 attempts from 2019-2023.
On Sunday, after Samuel received a lateral pass on 1st-and-goal from the 11-yard line in the second quarter, he wasn't in a great position because cornerback Jaylon Johnson was waiting for him at the 13. However, Samuel didn't respond by creating a trademark collision with the 196-pound defensive back, which might have resulted in Samuel bowling him over for a short gain. Instead, Samuel unsuccessfully tried to juke Johnson and was dropped for a 4-yard loss.
- Rookie safety Malik Mustapha got the worst of the collision when he tackled running back De'Andre Swift at the end of an 8-yard run and was forced to sit out for a snap.
However, the fourth-round pick's ability to inflict punishment is a reason why he remained a starter and Ji'Ayir Brown, a 2023 third-round pick, was sent to the bench for the first time this season with Talanoa Hufanaga returning from a wrist injury.
"He's been one of the better players on our defense, I think, here over the last month or so," Shanahan said of Mustapha, saying "it's nothing" against Brown.
Brown replaced Hufanga in garbage time and had a play that shed light on his demotion: He was slow to react on wideout Rome Odunze's 14-yard touchdown catch that trimmed the 49ers' lead to 31-13 in the fourth quarter.
- It sounds like linebacker Fred Warner had a candid pregame conversation with Vilma, himself a Pro Bowl linebacker, and Warner presumably would have preferred that Vilma had kept one part of their talk private.
After defensive tackle Maliek Collins had a second-quarter sack, Vilma referenced Fox's production meeting with Warner that took place after the 49ers had allowed 389 rushing yards in their previous two games.
"We talked to (Warner) and he said how well Maliek Collins has been playing," Vilma said. "Likes that he's been aggressive. He wants him to be a little more consistent."
- The 49ers didn't allow a blocked punt, a kickoff return for a touchdown or a successful fake punt, and Jake Moody didn't miss multiple field goals.
Still, their porous special teams remained on display.
The Bears began drives at their 40-yard line because Moody twice had his kickoffs fall short of the landing zone (the opponent's 20-yard line) when he was evidently attempting to make the returner field ground-ball kicks on a hop. That could have been a big deal in a competitive game.
Four of Moody's five other kickoffs resulted in touchbacks, which should be the approach on Thursday against the Rams given that it appears his grounders need work.
Reach Eric Branch: ebranch@sfchronicle.com; X: @Eric_Branch
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This story was originally published December 10, 2024, 7:14 PM.